<h6><strong>The Diplomat</strong></h6> <h4><strong>To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Liberation Propaganda Brigade on December 22, 1944, Ambassador Doan Thanh Song and his Defense Attaché, Viet Cuong Van, hosted a reception in Madrid attended by numerous military attachés.</strong></h4> “<strong>Defense diplomacy has become a pillar of Vietnam Communist Party (VCP) diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy,</strong>” <strong>said Doan Thanh Song</strong>, who stressed in his speech that ‘V<strong>ietnam consistently abides by the policy of the ’Four NOs'</strong> - NOT joining military alliances; NOT siding with one country against another; NOT to allow foreign militaries to establish bases on Vietnamese territory or use Vietnam's territory as leverage to counter others; and NOT to use force or threaten to use force in international relations - to persistently implement the foreign policy line of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development” in its foreign policy domain. “The Vietnam People's Army (VPA),” the ambassador added, ”has <strong>actively participated in UN peacekeeping, international cooperation in non-traditional security</strong>, human assistance, search and rescue, post-war mitigation, thus contributing greatly to international and regional peacekeeping, stability, cooperation and development.” <strong>Vietnam has established defense relations with more than 100 countries</strong>, and has opened Military Attaché Offices in 35 countries and the United Nations. Currently, there are <strong>42 countries that have Defense Attaché Offices in Vietnam.</strong> Doan Thanh Song expressed his “<strong>sincere thanks to the Spanish Government and Ministry of Defense</strong> for creating all conditions for the Vietnamese Defense Attaché Office in Spain to promote bilateral defense cooperation activities. For his part, the <strong>military attaché, Viet Cuong Van</strong> - who presented a video reviewing the history of the EPV from its founding to the present - also stressed his desire to “<strong>further strengthen, accelerate and deepen the Vietnam-Spain Strategic Partnership relationship”.</strong>
