Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet was invited by Russian President Medvedev to attend a ceremony at Red Square, Moscow, to mark the 65th anniversary of the Victory over Fascism on May 9.

This is the second time a Vietnamese Head of State has participated in the ceremony. 15 years ago, President Le Duc Anh joined in the celebration in Paris, France.

On May 8, 1995 Vietnamese journalists in Paris were moved to tears watching the national flag being carried through the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysees by the Military Attaché of the Vietnamese Embassy in France, Tran Viet Trung. A minute earlier, another flag had been raised by two French men to fly with the flags of 80 other nations.

Right after World War II broke out, the Indochinese Communist Party, the Viet Minh Front and Vietnamese revolutionaries announced that they stood by the Allied forces in the fight against Fascism. However, it wasn’t until 50 years after their victory that the Vietnamese flag could be flown over the Arc de Triomphe in a solemn ceremony to mark the country’s development in the international arena.

At the meeting with Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh, both France’s out-going President Mitterrand and newly elected President Jacques Chirac extolled Vietnam and confirmed that France wanted to further develop its close ties with the country.

After the ceremony, President Anh paid a visit to Montreuil, where the belongings of the late President Ho Chi Minh are preserved. He also visited the Overseas Vietnamese in the port city of Marseille.

Although it was not an official visit, the Vietnamese Head of State was welcomed with highest honours.

French friends and Overseas Vietnamese were deeply moved when hearing former President Anh say that Vietnamese people in France work in the best interests of both their homeland and their adopted country.

After returning to Vietnam in late May, 1995 President Le Duc Anh visited Pac Po grotto in northern Cao Bang province, which late President Ho Chi Minh chose as the first place to stay after 30 years of traveling around the globe to find a way to save the country.

At this place, late President Ho Chi Minh chaired the 8th conference of the Party Central Committee decided to establish the Viet Minh Front- one of the landmarks in the Vietnamese revolution.

He also wrote articles for the Viet Lap newspaper, showing his support for the Soviet Union’s Red Army and the Allied Forces movement against Fascism. Even when tens of Fascist divisions attacked to the Soviet Union and the Red Army then had to temporarily retreat, the late President still predicted the inevitable defeat of Fascism and the glorious victory of the Soviet Union.

Source: VOV