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Japan-Germany Foreign Ministers' Meeting

 

27 June 2008

On Friday 27 June from 12:35 for approximately 20 minutes at the Kyoto State Guesthouse, Minister for Foreign Affairs Koumura held a short meeting with Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Minister Steinmeier of the Federal Republic of Germany, who was visiting Japan to participate in the Kyoto G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting. A summary of their talks is as follows.

1. Regarding Afghanistan and Pakistan Foreign Minister Koumura stated that he was glad that Foreign Minister Steinmeier had arrived in time to participate in the discussions on Afghanistan and expressed his gratitude for the extremely significant comments made by Foreign Minister Steinmeier on that topic. Furthermore, Foreign Minister Koumura stated that as a result of the joint statement on Afghanistan issued the previous night he was very glad that further progress could be made in advancing the Afghanistan-Pakistan cooperation initiative that was adopted last year under the leadership of Germany as the G8 Summit Chair.
   
   In response to this, Foreign Minister Steinmeier once again expressed his apologies for being late to the banquet that was held the evening before, but stated that he was glad he was able to join the discussions about Afghanistan, and that improvements in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, in particular improvement of conditions in the area around the border of both countries, is essential for calming down the situation in Afghanistan.
   
   In response to this, Foreign Minister Koumura mentioned his visit to Pakistan and Afghanistan at the beginning of May and stated that he fully recognized the importance of the border region.
2. Foreign Minister Steinmeier mentioned the Conference in Support of Palestinian Civil Security and the Rule of Law that was held in Berlin on 24 June. Furthermore, regarding the situation concerning peace in the Middle East, the Foreign Minister stressed that compared to the situation last summer, the condition was moving in a good direction and that ensuring security and establishing the rule of law were central elements for creating a Palestinian state and therefore, there was a need to have talks between Israel and Palestine on the demarcation of the border and the status of Jerusalem. However, as a separate issue from that Foreign Minister Steinmeier stated that there is a need for the international community to assist Palestine in enhancing its capability of the police and in establishing a nation based on the rule of law.
3. Both Foreign Ministers expressed concern regarding the current situation prevailing in Zimbabwe and shared the view that there is a need for the G8 to take a uniform approach in dealing with the situation there.