Reporter: You were the one who attended the meeting to prepare for the establishment of the “Vietnamese Federation in Germany” on December 17, 2022 in Berlin, so tell me your observations.
Delegate: I arrived on time, but had to wait 1 more hour for the program to start, the number of attendees was very small, perhaps 50% of the founders were absent (founders are those who took part in the meeting on August 18, 2022 at the Vietnamese Embassy in Berlin).
The preparatory leadership team has 10 people, 3 people of them have already written notices to quit participation, that is Professor Nguyen Xuan Thinh, Dr. Nguyen Sy Phuong, Ms. Trinh Thi Mui- General Director of Thai Binh Duong Trade Center.
Even at the preparatory congress, Mr. Nguyen Duc Thang, who worked as an interpreter, also announced his withdrawal, not participating anymore, it was like a bucket of cold water poured on Mr. Hien, the head of the committee. After that, everyone voted not to let Mr. Thang withdraw, but Mr. Thang still resolutely withdrew and did not want to participate anymore. I think it’s also strange that this is the establishment of a civil organization, so they must respect Mr. Thang, how can they vote to force him to join, when he doesn’t want to anymore. I also understand, Mr. Thang works as a sworn translator for the German police, courts, and public offices, so he has to be neutral, but cannot join the association set up by the Embassy, contrary to the law on associations e.V. of Germany.
Thus, the leadership team from 10 people, now there are 6, those with university and postgraduate degrees have all gone, almost no one left.
Reporter: What impressed you the most at this Preparatory Congress?
At first, I found it very strange that everyone who attended was given a card to vote, except for the embassy staff. On the ballot is printed the logo of the Dong Xuan Berlin market that has held 40 years of integration since 2015, which I find a bit absurd, it should be only the participating members can receive the voting card, but the guests who are not related to the association but also can vote on the charter!
When commenting on the association’s rules, I did not receive the previous print, but they just put the picture on the screen and then raised the card to vote. This is a lack of preparation for delegates because they do not have content to read and preview.
The head of the committee also said that they had to have 10 working sessions, many days until 1 am to write down the charter based on the model of the German association and the charter of the “All-European Vietnamese Association” of Mr. Hoang Dinh Thang from the Czech Republic, but I think if they just copied the rules from other places, we would focus on doing one session and it did take so long, maybe because they didn’t know how to do it.
The next problem was that from the beginning they argued vehemently about the name, why it was called ‘Federation’, it’s a Sino-Vietnamese word, very obscure to this party, because in Germany there is no such thing as federation “like in Vietnam but become a union? Only the association here.
I also observed that many representatives of the Association and active individuals in the states outside of Berlin had stopped coming, the rest were just acquaintances around the markets in Berlin, perhaps they saw something wrong behind, when the Embassy intervened too deeply to set up this organization.
Reporter: Did you see the appearance of the Representative of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at the Congress?
Yes, I did see Mr. Tinh of the Front sitting at the Chairman’s table, he was the owner of a small restaurant with poor German.
Reporter: Did anyone at the embassy come?
Oh, they come very crowded, about 8 people in a full table. Mr. Ambassador Vu Quang Minh is a professional diplomat. He gave a speech “stroking” Mr. Hien, the owner of Dong Xuan market, and saw that this New Year, Mr. Hien was invited to join overseas Vietnamese to attend Tet “Spring in homeland” with the state president.
But I find it strange, rich and independent of Vietnam, Mr. Hien, who is nearly ten years older than Ambassador Minh, but still has to “sybaritic” like that, given his position, it is still higher than Mr. Hoang Dinh Thang in the Czech Republic. The embassy needs him to receive visitors from abroad and have relations with the community here. He just kept getting stronger, calling himself and organizing his own General Assembly at a very beautiful cultural house that was almost finished at Dong Xuan market in Berlin, no need to ask support from the Embassy, if the association he founded To make a real “non-profit, non-political” activity and for the community, he will have a lot of followers, he has to work for the President of the All-Europe Union, not the vice president like now. But if it becomes “profitable, political.” it is difficult.
Reporter: Did you see the office of the defense attaché of the Vietnamese people’s army in Germany in Germany?
Yes, I saw Colonel Nguyen Tuan Minh and his wife, the head of the attache’s office, he was handsome, small and I heard he was from General Department 2, General Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense.
Reporter: Thank you for your interview with Thoibao.de
Berlin December 17, 2022
Source: https://thoibao.de/blog/2022/12/18/phong-van-nguoi-du-dai-hoi-tru-bi-lien-doan-nguoi-viet-tai-duc/
