Tal vid Foreign Trade University, Hanoi, Vietnam Utrikesminister Margot Wallström, 22 november 2017, regeringen.se

…Sweden was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. This was in 1969, and since then we have been supporting and engaging with Vietnam, not least through development cooperation programmes that have helped Vietnam build hospitals and much-needed industries, and introduce various reforms in fields such as research, law, health, economics and human rights. Vietnam has made huge and rapid progress over the last 30 years, and bilateral development cooperation has come to an end…

Sweden’s commitment to multilateral cooperation and our staunch defence of international law are rooted in the realisation that our own security depends on this rules-based international order, where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, both large and small, are respected globally.

Safeguarding the principles of free trade and the multilateral trading system is crucial to global economic development. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sets out the legal framework within which all activities in the oceans and seas must be carried out. It facilitates free and open trade, includes well-established rights to freedom of navigation and overflight, and supports the peaceful resolution of maritime disputes. Sweden welcomes the ongoing talks on a Code of Conduct (CoC) between ASEAN and China, and hopes for a swift implementation of the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.

In our own region, we must not forget the conflict in Ukraine, Russia’s aggression and violations of international law. Sweden and the EU underscore the importance of the Minsk agreements and reiterate our support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, and call upon Russia to do likewise. Läs talet