As part of his working visit to Europe, on October 22 (local time) in Austria, Senior Lieutenant General Pham The Tung, Member of the Party Central Committee and Deputy Minister of Public Security, held talks with Mr. Norbert Darabos, Chairman of the Board of the Austrian Centre for Peace.
The Austrian Centre for Peace (ACP), formerly known as the Austrian Study Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution (ASPR), was established in 1982. Its headquarters is located at Schlaining Castle in Burgenland, with an additional office in Vienna. The Centre is an independent, non-profit organization focusing on three main areas: conflict resolution, training and education, and research. In 2022, marking its 40th anniversary, the Centre was renamed ACP.
Each year, the Centre trains hundreds of civilian, military, and police experts both in Austria and internationally. It also organizes the annual Austrian Forum for Peace, which brings together representatives from the diplomatic, scientific, and civil society communities worldwide. Mr. Norbert Darabos is a seasoned Austrian politician, having served as Austria’s Minister of Defence from 2007 to 2013 and as a member of the Burgenland state government responsible for social affairs and health from 2015 to 2019. Since March 2019, he has been Chairman of the Austrian Centre for Peace, making significant contributions to enhancing the Centre’s profile and expanding its peace dialogue activities.
Expressing his gratitude for the warm welcome from Mr. Norbert Darabos and the Centre’s leadership, Deputy Minister Pham The Tung voiced his pleasure at the continuously strengthened and developing traditional friendship between Vietnam and Austria in various fields. According to the guest, law enforcement agencies of the two countries have maintained exchanges and cooperation in combating transnational crime, human trafficking, illegal migration, and ensuring cybersecurity. These activities have positively contributed to the safety and security of citizens from both countries as well as the Vietnamese community in Austria.
Deputy Minister Pham The Tung noted that, alongside participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations, Vietnam is focused on building specialized training facilities and developing a pool of high-quality instructors. Vietnam collaborates with international partners to organize pre-deployment and specialized training courses. The goal is to shift from mere “participation” to “quality contribution,” based on sustainable, self-reliant domestic training capacity. The Deputy Minister affirmed that the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam highly values the role of the Austrian Centre for Peace in research, training, experience sharing, and capacity building for forces involved in international peacekeeping operations.
The two sides agreed to establish a focal point mechanism and begin exchanges immediately after the meeting. The Vietnamese side assigned the Standing Office of the Ministry of Public Security for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations as the focal point, which will coordinate through the embassies of the two countries, and maintain regular online exchanges every six months to monitor cooperation progress. The two sides also agreed to strengthen the training of core instructors, send Vietnamese officers to participate in the Centre’s courses, and organize specialized training sessions in Vietnam. The Austrian Centre for Peace will serve as a bridge to the peacekeeping training network in Austria and Europe. Emphasizing the need to build a formal cooperation framework, the two sides agreed to explore the possibility of leveraging support from Austrian government programs for peacekeeping training, ensuring stable and long-term cooperation.
On behalf of the Austrian Centre for Peace, Mr. Norbert Darabos thanked the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam for its attention and support through this visit. He highly appreciated Vietnam’s positive and responsible contributions, particularly those of the People’s Public Security forces, to United Nations peacekeeping operations and recent international rescue and relief efforts. He fully agreed with Deputy Minister Pham The Tung’s cooperation initiatives, and affirmed the Centre’s readiness to connect and promote cooperation with Vietnam, especially in training, workshops and seminars.
The Centre will facilitate the participation of Vietnamese officers and instructors in its courses and forums. It will also share expertise in key areas such as civilian protection, gender equality, dialogue and reconciliation, and ensuring safety in high-risk environments. Mr. Darabos proposed that the two sides soon concretize the agreed contents and institutionalize regular cooperation through the Standing Office of the Ministry of Public Security for United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. He expressed confidence that cooperation between the Centre and the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam will yield practical results, further deepening the Vietnam–Austria friendship as the two countries approach the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2027.
