Japan-Germany Relations

On April 11, commencing at 12:10 p.m. (local time) for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is visiting Lucca in Italy to attend the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, held his first foreign ministers’ meeting with H.E. Mr. Sigmar Gabriel, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. In his opening remarks, Minister Kishida congratulated Minister Gabriel on the success of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in February in Bonn. He also stated that he highly valued Minister Gabriel’s focus on Asia, noting that Japan and Germany share fundamental values and have been deepening collaboration as important partners that lead Asia and Europe in responding to various challenges in the international community.
   In response, Minister Gabriel thanked Minister Kishida for his cooperation on the occasion of the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, expressed agreement with the remarks made by Minister Kishida, and stated that Japan and Germany have the same position on many issues.
2. The ministers shared the view that collaboration between Japan and Germany had become even more important as the international community faced many difficult challenges and that they would collaborate closely going forward.
3. The ministers discussed other issues including the situation in East Asia, and also confirmed they would continue to work together to further deepen the bilateral relationship between Japan and Germany. The ministers also shared the intention to work closely in order to reach an agreement in principle on the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as early as possible.