PRIME Minister Hun Sen has revealed that Cambodia and Vietnam have agreed on roughly three-eighths of the remaining undemarcated borders between the two countries, in a varied speech to members of the Cambodian diaspora in Europe, in which he also discussed the upcoming commune council elections.

While greeting them on May 21 before attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Hun Sen said the border committees of Cambodia and Vietnam had recently negotiated the boundary for six of the remaining 16% of undemarcated borders between the two countries.

“I have invited the Prime Minister of Vietnam to visit Cambodia and put a signature on this 6%,” he said, referring to his recent meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh during the May 12-13 Asean-US Special Summit in Washington, DC.

Hun Sen also criticised those who accused him of “ceding” land to Vietnam. He said if that were the case, he would not have needed to negotiate, as he had with Vietnam on the 6% of borders.

“I have no right to take Cambodian territory and give it to other people - even a millimetre of it. If it was... my own land, sure, I could give some of it to others. But it is impossible to cede land from one country to offer another country,” he said.

Cambodia needs to be friendly with other countries, especially those with whom it shares a border, he added, in a rebuttal against unnamed critics of his negotiation tactics.

 - ANN