MEP Marco Cappato sent a letter to the President of the European Parliament to warn him that Nonviolent Radical party colleagues Marco Pannella (MEP) and Marco Perduca (Italian senator and UNPO treasurer) may face security problems despite having attained regular visas. The Vietnamese government had received several letters and messages of protest concerning their visit but the two men had applied and received visas without a problem.

At the time of gaining visas, neither the ED office, nor the Italian Embassy had been able to arrange meetings with local MPs or the Ministry of Foreign or internal Affairs. They hope to meet the venerable Tich Quang Do, leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam.

The EU-Vietnam agreement is due for renewal in the near future which may interest the European Parliament President in light of the lack of security guarantees for one of its own MEPs.