Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Visit Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Slovak Republic

January 5, 2007

Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs, will visit Bucharest (Romania), Sofia (Bulgaria), Budapest (Hungary) and Bratislava (the Slovak Republic) from January 9 (Tue) to January 15 (Mon) to hold a foreign ministerial meeting in each country and have talks with key government officials.
Mr. Aso will visit Romania and Bulgaria, taking the opportunity of their accession to the EU on January 1 this year, as the first Japanese foreign minister to visit these countries in 24 years. It will be the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Hungary in 12 years and the first to the Slovak Republic since it became independent in 1993.

(END)