EU's Borrell offers Vietnam security support on South China Sea

By Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu

HANOI (Reuters) -The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday the EU wanted to guarantee peace in the South China Sea and told Vietnam the bloc could help boost its maritime security and cybersecurity capabilities.

The Southeast Asian country is at odds with China over its boundaries in the South China Sea, a crucial shipping waterway which Beijing claims almost in its entirety - a stance that has caused tensions with other countries in the region as well.

In a meeting with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son in Hanoi, Borrell, who is approaching the end of his five-year term as High Representative for EU Foreign Affairs, said the 27-country bloc had a "direct interest in maintaining peace and stability" in the South China Sea, where over a third of EU imports and more than 20% of its exports transit.

"The EU can be a smart enabler for peace and security," he told reporters during a joint press conference with Son, noting the EU could "enhance Vietnam's capabilities in cybersecurity, maritime security and crisis management".

Vietnam has relied for decades on military gear from Russia, but since 2022 has been publicly saying it wants to diversify its security equipment, and is in talks with multiple countries, including in Europe, over possible defence supplies.

Borrell stressed that the fulfilment of international law, which Vietnam invokes in the South China Sea, should be applied everywhere, including in Ukraine.

Many EU countries see Hanoi's non-committal stance on Russia's military operation in Ukraine as too close to Moscow.

CLIMATE TIES

Borrell also urged Vietnam to speed up the implementation of a plan agreed with the EU and other international donors to reduce its reliance on coal, on which little progress has been achieved since it was agreed in late 2022.

Borrell urged Hanoi to quickly identify priority projects which could be co-funded by international donors, such as on renewables or for the upgrade of the power grid.

Son said Vietnam welcomed the EU's financial support. However the country forfeited in recent years billions of dollars in foreign aid due to its slow approval of projects amid a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. Foreign donors have also committed mostly costly loans, instead of grants for Vietnam's transition away from coal.

"I would like my visit to be the moment to launch the process to upgrade our relations," Borrell said.

In the joint conference, during which media questions were not allowed, Borrell stressed strong trading relations with Vietnam and briefly mentioned human rights.

Many global powers, including the United States and Japan, have recently upgraded their diplomatic ties with Vietnam to the highest level in the country's ranking, in a sign of its growing strategic importance.

EU countries however have showed different positions about the opportunity for an immediate upgrade.

(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Khanh Vu; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Sonali Paul and Michael Perry)