EU and Vietnam strengthen cooperation in enhancing maritime security

On 10 September 2025, experts from Vietnam and the European Union met in Hanoi for a roundtable discussion with the aim to address pressing challenges in regional and global maritime security. The event was attended by approximately 50 participants, including military personnel and officials from government agencies such as the Navy and Coast Guard.

The roundtable provided a platform for exchanges on maritime threats and strategies for enhanced cooperation, and was organised jointly by the Institute for Defence International Relations (IDIR) of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence and the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam. The event was supported by the ESIWA+ project^[1] (Enhancing the EU’s Security Cooperation in and with Asia and the Indo-Pacific), co-funded by the EU, Germany, and France.

Discussions centred on critical issues such as the protection of sea cables, ensuring safer sea lanes of communication, and reinforcing support for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS^[2]).

EU Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Julien Guerrier, emphasised the EU’s commitment to being a reliable maritime security partner in the region. He highlighted the EU Action Plan on the Security of Submarine Cables^[3] (adopted in February 2025) as a robust framework for developing joint strategies to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure and establish collaborative mechanisms for incident response and information sharing.

French Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Olivier Brochet, and German Chargé d’Affaires to Vietnam, H.E. Simon Kreye, underlined the importance of Vietnam as a key partner in ensuring maritime order in the Indo-Pacific. Both countries have actively contributed to maritime security in the region, with Germany deploying a Task Group in 2024^[4] and France deploying the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in 2025^[5].

This event is significant as it highlights the deepening of EU-Vietnam security cooperation, paving the way for further collaboration in the framework of ESIWA+ and contributing to regional peace, stability, and prosperity. Events like these are part of the implementation of the EU’s plan of action to implement the ASEAN-EU strategic partnership (2023-2027). The strategic partnership among others foresees cooperation in the fields of maritime security, maritime law-enforcement, maritime safety and connectivity.^[6]

^[1] https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/esiwa-enhancing-security-cooperation-and-asia_en

^[2] https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/unclos_e.pdf

^[3] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52025JC0009

^[4] https://singapur.diplo.de/sg-en/2675430-2675430

^[5] https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2025/04/french-csg-ends-its-clemenceau-25-deployment-in-the-indo-pacific/

^[6] European External Action Service: Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership (2023-2027): https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/plan-action-implement-asean-eu-strategic-partnership-2023-2027-0_en