At a meeting with the leaders of the Spanish government, Nguyen Van Binh, Head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission thanked Spain for supporting the signing of the two deals. While working with the Elcano Royal Institute, a leading strategic research agency in Spain, Binh talked about the actions violating the legal and legitimate rights of Vietnam in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the East Sea, and asked Spain to support Vietnam on this issue. Director of the institute Charles Powell shared the difficulties Vietnam is encountering in addressing complicated issues in the East Sea, and affirmed Spain’s position to support the use of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to settle territorial disputes.

While meeting with General Secretary of the Spanish Communist Party Enrique Santiago Romero and representative from the United Left (IU), Binh said he hoped to further boost bilateral relations. The Vietnamese delegation will attend the upcoming EU-Asia Connectivity Forum held by the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.