European Council President António Costa. Photo: AFPThe visit will be only the second official trip to Vietnam by the EU’s top leader, following the 2012 visit by then European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. He assumed the post of president of the European Council in December 2024. Vietnam and the EU have steadily deepened their relationship over more than 35 years since formally establishing diplomatic ties on November 28, 1990. For its part, Vietnam is the EU’s 16th-largest trading partner globally and its largest partner within ASEAN.
