Japan-Germany Relations
Telephone talk between Japanese and German Foreign Ministers
In light of the hostage incident of Japanese individuals in Syria, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, during his visit to Belgium, had a telephone talk with Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Foreign Minister of Germany at 14:15 (local time) on the 20th January for fifteen minutes. Outline of the talk is as follows.
1. Foreign Minister Kishida made following points:
(1) ISIL has released a video on the internet early this morning announcing its intent to kill Japanese individuals. A threat of this kind in exchange of peoples’ lives is unacceptable, and I feel strong indignation.
(2) The assistance of 200 million dollars which was announced by Prime Minister Abe is to make as much contribution as possible in the non-military areas, such as to provide assistance to the refugees. The ISIL’s response to such efforts is a manifestation of their savage nature.
(3) Japan will not succumb to terrorism, and will contribute to the international community’s fight against terrorism.
(4) Japan asks for the support of the German Government in collecting information on facts of the situation and the cooperation towards early release of the Japanese individuals.
2. In response, Foreign Minister Steinmeier said that he felt strong indignation about the incident, and that the Minister would like Japan and Germany to closely collaborate towards the early resolution of the incident including cooperation between security agencies of the two countries.
