North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg
June 29, 2022
Prime Minister Kishida who has a talk with Secretary General Stoltenberg (Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
Prime Minister Kishida who has a talk with Secretary General Stoltenberg (Photo: Cabinet Public Affairs Office)
On June 29, commencing at 3:05 p.m. (local time; same day, 10:05 p.m. Japan time) for approximately 15 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), while visiting Spain to attend the NATO Summit. The overview of the meeting is as follows.
- At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida, while expressing gratitude for the invitation to the NATO Summit, appreciated the efforts made by Secretary General Stoltenberg to strengthen relations with Japan and other NATO Asia-Pacific partners and stated that his attendance at the Summit that coincided with the timing of the formulation of NATO’s new Strategic Concept is of historic significance. In response, Secretary General Stoltenberg expressed gratitude for Prime Minister Kishida’s attendance at this Summit. He also stated that Japan is an important partner of NATO and expressed his intension to further strengthen partnership with Japan.
- Prime Minister Kishida and Secretary General Stoltenberg exchanged views on the situation in the Indo-Pacific region based on the recognition that the security of Europe and of the Indo-Pacific is inseparable, and concurred that it is important to further deepen the cooperation between Japan and NATO. They confirmed that Japan and NATO will upgrade the existing "Japan-NATO Individual Partnership and Cooperation Programme (IPCP)" to one that suits a new era and accelerate the work toward an early agreement on a new document for cooperation. They also concurred that Japan and NATO will expand cooperation, including mutual participation as observers in the other's exercises.