Vietnam's new leaders, including recently installed President To Lam, have little interest in breaking with Hanoi's tried-and-tested foreign policy of finding a balance between all powers, analysts say.
But their lack of experience in international diplomacy, and their likely escalation of human rights violations, could trigger an overdue debate within Europe about ties with the economically booming but politically repressive one-party state of Vietnam.
Both Brussels and Hanoi are trying to project continuity. Josep Borrell, the EU's outgoing foreign policy chief, traveled to Hanoi last week to attend the state funeral of Nguyen Phu Trong, the communist chief who passed away in late July after an almost unprecedented 12 years in the job.
Borrell's visit demonstrates the "strong relationship" between Brussels and Vietnam, an EU spokesperson told DW.
These relations, the spokesperson added, are "underpinned" by several important agreements, such as the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, a free trade deal that took effect in 2020, and a Framework Partnership Agreement on peace and security.
The European Commission has also solidified relations through a Just Energy Transition Partnership, a multilateral structure that funds ecological projects in Vietnam.
The EU will "endeavor to further enhance" these partnerships, the spokesperson added.
Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. This is helped in good measure by international firms "off-shoring" away from China. EU-Vietnam bilateral trade rose to €64.2 billion ($69.6 billion) last year, according to European Commission data.
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Hanoi's strategy depends on balancing its international........