Vietnam values Poland’s support to protect Vietnamese citizens: FM

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son (R) receives Chargé d'Affaires of the Polish Embassy in Vietnam Maciej Duszynski (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam appreciates Poland's support in evacuating nearly 2,000 Vietnamese people from Ukraine to Poland and providing them with shelters and necessities, Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son told Chargé d'Affaires of the Polish Embassy in Vietnam Maciej Duszynski during their meeting in Hanoi on March 7.

Son underlined that the assistance, along with Poland's provision of COVID-19 vaccine and medical supplies worth 4 million USD to Vietnam to help push back the pandemic, is an evidence of the sound traditional friendship and close ties between the two nations over the past more than seven decades.

Son said that on March 9, Vietnam will operate the first repatriation flight to bring home nearly 300 Vietnamese citizens and their family members, who have traveled to Poland from Ukraine. More flights will be launched in the next days, he added.

The FM expressed his hope that the Polish side will continue to provide shelters for nearly 1,000 Vietnamese people who are on the way to the country from Ukraine, while creating favourable conditions for the repatriation flights, including early issuance of permits for the flights and the assistance in processing exit procedures. He said he wishes Poland will consider allowing Vietnamese people with long-term residency in Ukraine to stay in Poland until they can return to Ukraine.

At the meeting, Son handed over his letter to his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau asking for coordination and support in citizen protection activities for Vietnamese people evacuated to Poland from Ukraine, and inviting him to visit Vietnam to discuss measures to further promote the traditional friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

For his part, Maciej Duszynski hailed the Vietnamese Government’s efforts in protecting its citizens, including the prompt arrangement of the first repatriation flight.

He welcomed the presence of officials from the Vietnamese Embassy in Poland in the Poland-Ukraine border to direct citizen protection activities. He underscored that the Polish Government is giving favourable conditions for citizens from other countries, including those from Vietnam, to enter Poland from Ukraine. He also affirmed that his country will help with procedures related to the operation of flights to bring Vietnamese people home from Poland./.

VNA