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On Jan. 29, 2026, European Council President António Costa and Vietnamese President Lương Cường shook hands to proclaim a historic elevation in diplomatic ties: the entry of the European Union and Việt Nam into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). This announcement, made during President Costa’s official visit to Hà Nội, put the 27-nation bloc on the highest tier of Việt Nam’s diplomatic hierarchy, equal to China, Russia, and the United States.

For Brussels and Hà Nội, the benefits of this new arrangement are quite clear. The partnership promises to promote deeper cooperation in critical raw materials, semiconductors, and digital transformation—sectors where Europe is desperate to de-risk from China and where Việt Nam is eager to climb the value chain.

This opens the door for enhanced defense technology transfers and reinforces Việt Nam’s "bamboo diplomacy," allowing Hà Nội to stand against the volatility of worsening American isolationism and Chinese aggression . This foreign-policy approach, like bamboo, remains deeply rooted in national interests, flexible in tactics, and resilient under pressure, allowing Việt Nam to balance major powers while safeguarding regime stability and strategic autonomy.

However, underneath the celebratory applause and sanitized joint statements lies a more uncomfortable reality. While the EU celebrates this enhanced level of cooperation, the very values it claims to export—human rights, labor rights, and the rule of law—are being systematically dismantled by its new strategic partner.

The journey from the 2012 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) to today's CSP is a brilliant example of economic pragmatism, yet it also demonstrates the inability of European soft power to prevent Southeast Asia's descent into authoritarianism.

The Development of a Partnership

The road to 2026 was paved with meticulously negotiated agreements that have transformed Việt Nam from a recipient of development aid into the EU’s most important trading partner in Southeast Asia.

Modern EU-Việt Nam ties began with the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), signed in 2012 and entered into force in 2016. The PCA was designed to facilitate trade and serve as a comprehensive political framework. It bound both parties to strict standards regarding the International Criminal Court and weapons proliferation, enshrining respect for human rights and democracy as an essential element of the accord.

At the time, the PCA was used as a tool to engage Việt Nam in a " comprehensive dialogue " that would cover economics, justice, security, and the rule of law. In hindsight, the PCA served primarily as a precursor to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement.

The EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into effect on Aug. 1, 2020, and is a " new-generation " pact that eliminated 99% of tariffs between both parties. Five years later, two-way trade surged to nearly $300 billion between 2020 and 2025. Việt Nam has solidified its position as a manufacturing hub for European supply chains, exporting appliances, textiles, and machinery, while importing European chemicals and transport equipment.

However, the EVFTA came with a clear caveat. Chapter 13 of the agreement, dedicated to Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD), mandates that Việt Nam respect core labor rights and international environmental standards. It established "Domestic Advisory Groups" (DAGs)—independent bodies meant to allow civil society to monitor the agreement’s implementation.

Since then, the EVFTA has faced several hurdles. Việt Nam’s fisheries sector remains under the scrutiny of the EU for illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Furthermore, Vietnamese enterprises continue to struggle with the EU’s complex rules and the impending Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

Despite these and several other issues, trade continues to flow and goods continue to move. But the human cost of this partnership suggests that while goods move freely, the people advocating for rights do not.

A Worsening Human Rights Situation

The gap between the EU’s rhetoric on human rights and the reality in Việt Nam has never been wider. While Brussels speaks of " shared values, " Hà Nội has engaged in a systematic crackdown on the very civil society actors the EU claims to support.

The human rights situation in Việt Nam has not improved with closer European ties. In fact, the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has intensified its suppression of dissent by abusing vague national security laws to imprison journalists, environmentalists, and labor activists.

The case of Phạm Đoan Trang stands as a symbol of this failure. A renowned journalist and author, Trang was sentenced to nine years in prison for "anti-state propaganda"—a charge frequently used by the CPV to criminalize peaceful expression. Despite the international outcry and the EU’s purported leverage, she remains behind bars. Her crime was nothing more than advocating for the civil liberties enshrined in the Vietnamese Constitution.

Similarly, Phạm Chí Dũng , the president of the Independent Journalists Association of Vietnam, is serving a 15-year sentence. His arrest in 2019 occurred just days after he publicly petitioned the European Parliament to postpone the ratification of the EVFTA until the country improved its human rights record. The EU ratified the deal anyway.

Perhaps the most ironic and laughable aspect of this entire spectacle is the targeting of environmental defenders—the very people essential to the " green transition " flaunted in the new CSP.

Đặng Đình Bách , a lawyer who dedicated his life to protecting local communities from pollution, is currently serving a five-year prison sentence on trumped-up tax evasion charges. Bach was a board member of the VN-NGO-EVFTA Network, explicitly trying to participate in the Domestic Advisory Group mechanism established by the trade deal.

Việt Nam accepts billions in green financing—such as through the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP)—while arresting the experts advocating for clean energy policies. The arrest of reformist officials Nguyễn Văn Bình and Vũ Minh Tiến in April 2024 further illustrates that even those working within the system to align Việt Nam’s labor laws with International Labor Organization (ILO) standards are not safe.

While the EU delegation to the UN has verbally criticized Việt Nam’s crackdown against human rights activists and called for their release, it constantly demonstrates a lack of political will to impose meaningful consequences. The constant back-and-forth between both parties has regrettably transfigured into a ritualistic display where European officials raise concerns, Vietnamese officials cite "national sovereignty," and business continues as usual. Clearly, the EU has failed to utilize the enforcement mechanisms properly within the EVFTA.

Furthermore, by upgrading relations to CSP without securing the release of political prisoners or tangible legal reforms, the EU has effectively signaled that its human rights conditionality lacks any real teeth. The bloc has prioritized its geopolitical anxieties regarding China and its economic thirst for a manufacturing alternative over its foundational values.

A Partnership of Convenience

The elevation of EU-Việt Nam relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is a triumph of realpolitik . For Việt Nam, it is an accurate reflection of its "bamboo diplomacy" strategy, successfully balancing the Great Powers while securing the capital and technology needed to modernize its economy. For the EU, it solidifies a foothold in the Indo-Pacific, securing supply chains and a partner in maritime security amidst an increasingly unpredictable global order.

However, we must view the rhetoric of "shared values" with intense skepticism. The trajectory of the last decade proves that economic integration does not inevitably lead to political liberalization. On the contrary, the CPV has grown bolder in its ability to crush dissent while enjoying the benefits of Western trade.

As the U.S. retreats into delusional isolationism under a new " America First " doctrine, the EU’s role becomes even more vital. Yet, there is little evidence to suggest that the CSP will change anything in Hà Nội. The "Comprehensive" nature of the partnership covers everything from defense to digital data, but unless the EU is willing to inflict actual economic pain to enforce its human rights clauses, the "Strategic" value will remain purely transactional.

Nevertheless, the CSP provides a massive, formalized framework for cooperation. If European leaders choose to find their courage —to quote the Council of Europe’s Commissioner regarding the defense of democratic norms—they possess the leverage to demand the proper implementation of ILO standards and the release of wrongfully imprisoned human rights and environmental defenders.

Until then, the partnership stands as a hollow bridge between two worlds built on the backs of silenced journalists and imprisoned activists. The EU has gained a strategic partner. But in return, it has lost its voice.

References: +

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