BRUSSELS —Việt Nam will send more officers, especially women, to participate in the UN peacekeeping operations, said Deputy Defence Minister Senior Lieutenant General Nguyễn Chí Vịnh.

Speaking as an honorary guest at a recent meeting of EU chiefs of defence in Belgium, Vịnh said Việt Nam is scheduled to run the level-2 field hospital in Bentiu, South Sudan in the second quarter of this year, replacing the UK’s level-2 field hospital.

In 2019 or 2020, Việt Nam will dispatch a peacekeeping military engineering unit to a suitable mission, the deputy minister added.

Applauding the EU’s contributions to peacekeeping, Vịnh affirmed that Việt Nam will make more contributions to UN peacekeeping operations within its capacity and as part of its overall foreign policy.

He noted that after nearly four years of joining UN peacekeeping operations, Việt Nam has sent 20 officers to work at the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Central African Republic and the UN Mission in South Sudan, including one female officer.

Vịnh suggested an official defence partnership between Việt Nam and the EU by pushing the signing of a Việt Nam-EU joint vision statement on national defence and a memorandum of understanding on bilateral defence ties, including UN peacekeeping activities.

He also called on Việt Nam and the EU to increase the exchange of delegations and mutual consultations at multilateral forums and mechanisms to which both sides are members, such as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.

In peacekeeping, the two sides should intensify the sharing of professional knowledge and experience through training, workshop organisation and exchange of experts to help Việt Nam improve its capacity and boost affiliation between the Việt Nam Peacekeeping Department and peacekeeping training centres of the UN.

During the two-day conference, which was held by the EU Military Committee, the delegates discussed security and defence issues relating to the EU and EU campaigns.

It brought together chiefs of defence from 28 EU member countries and guests from the UN, NATO, the US Africa Command, the Republic of Korea, Jordan, Serbia, Cuba and Việt Nam.

On the sidelines of the event, Vịnh had bilateral meetings and working sessions with several EU chiefs of defence and representatives of the European External Action Service. — VNS