On December 1, the EU and Vietnam held their 7th Human Rights Dialogue under the EU-Vietnam Partnership Cooperation Agreement. The EU expressed its concerns about the deterioration of civil and political rights in Vietnam and explicitly referred to essential rights like freedom of assembly, religion or belief and expression. Related to this, the Netherlands requested the Vietnamese government to release citizens who are in prison because they exercised their freedom of expression peacefully. Whether Vietnam will implement these recommendations and requests of the EU remains to be seen.