On Monday, the Danish royals hosted their first state visit in two years, welcoming the President of Vietnam, Tô Lâm, and his wife Ngô Phương Ly.
The Vietnamese first couple are staying for a three-day visit to mark the 55th anniversary of Danish-Vietnamese relations.
The day saw King Frederik X and Queen Mary show their Vietnamese counterparts around various sights in Copenhagen, concluding with a gala banquet.
Kastellet, the Folketing, and the University of Copenhagen
Monday began with the Vietnamese president and first lady joining the Danish King and Queen at Kastellet, the famous citadel in Copenhagen.
There, they laid wreaths at the Monument for Denmark’s International Efforts Since 1948.
This was followed by a visit to Amalienborg and then the Folketing, where the Vietnamese President also met with the Speaker of the Folketing, Henrik Frandsen.
Queen Mary and Ngô Phương Ly then visited a couple of cultural institutions: first the library and culture house on Rentemestervej, where they were joined by Minister for Culture Zenia Stampe, and afterwards the Court Theatre.
Meanwhile, King Frederik and the President of Vietnam visited the University of Copenhagen, where they were joined by Minister for Education Magnus Heunicke. This included a visit to the Niels Bohr Institute.
Gala Banquet
The day concluded with a gala banquet hosted by the Danish King and Queen at Christiansborg Palace for the Vietnamese first couple.
Also in attendance were Crown Prince Christian, who recently turned 21, as well as a majority of the ministers in the Danish government, including Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Also attending the gala were the members of the Vietnamese official delegation, the Folketing’s Presidium, the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands, and a long list of representatives of Danish business.
King Frederik X gave a speech in which he spoke about the relations between the two countries and mentioned his father’s early years growing up in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese President likewise gave a speech at the gala and was awarded the Order of the Elephant, a Danish order of chivalry, by the Danish King.
Plan for the following days
Tuesday and Wednesday will see the state visit continue.On Tuesday, Tô Lâm will meet with various business interests in Denmark alongside King Frederik and will also meet with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Ngô Phương Ly will continue visiting cultural institutions with Queen Mary, including the art centre Copenhagen Contemporary.
On Wednesday, Vietnam’s first couple are scheduled to visit the Port of Copenhagen before they say their farewells.
Not without controversy
The state visit was, however, not without controversy.
Vietnam is an authoritarian one-party state ruled by the Communist Party of Vietnam, which has ruffled a few feathers across the Danish media landscape.
This follows the last state visit hosted by the Danish royals, which saw them welcome Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, widely regarded as an authoritarian military dictator.
In response to this criticism, Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said, “It is no use having the approach to the world that we only want dialogue and cooperation with countries that fully live up to our own standards, because then we will be left with a very, very small group.”
