Japan-Finland Relations
Meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President of the Republic of Finland Niinistö
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
(Photo: Cabinet Public Relations Office)
On October 21, commencing at 1:15p.m. for approximately 10 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit meeting with Mr. Sauli Niinistö, President of the Republic of Finland. The overview of the meeting is as follows. The meeting was also attended by Mr. Naoki Okada, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, Mr. Eiichi Hasegawa, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Mr. Takaya Imai, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister and others from the Japanese side, and by Mr. Jukka Siukosaari, Head of Cabinet and Secretary General, Office of the President of the Republic of Finland, Mr. Pekka Orpana, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Finland to Japan, and others from the Finnish side.
1. Firstly, Prime Minister Abe welcomed President Niinistö’s visit to Japan and stated, ‘Finland is our Strategic Partner sharing with Japan fundamental values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. I respect Finland’s achievement as the EU Presidency during the latter half of this year, while it is facing such a difficult challenge as Brexit.’ President Niinistö expressed congratulations for the new era ‘Reiwa’ and his condolence to the devastation caused by Typhoon Hagibis.
2. Regarding the bilateral relations, Prime Minister Abe stated, ‘This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Finland diplomatic relations. I would like to make use of this opportunity to further develop our bilateral relations. Our bilateral cooperation has progressed in various areas based on the Strategic Partnership, which President Niinistö and I launched together in 2016. Let us continue our cooperation.’ In response, President Niinistö stated, ‘Our bilateral cooperation has expanded and been upgraded for this year’s 100th anniversary of the establishment of Japan-Finland diplomatic relations. I am extremely pleased at the increase of the trade volume and the expansion of cooperation in important areas such as science, technology and communication between us, which are signifying the solidarity of our Strategic Partnership. I have felt that the Japanese people and the Finnish people share the similar values ever since I visited Japan as a Finance Minister in 1990s. I would like to extend my gratitude to Japan for having trusted Finland then, even though Finland was facing an economic crisis.
3. The two leaders exchanged their views about various international situations, and Prime Minister Abe requested understanding and cooperation towards the early resolution of the abductions issue. In response, President Niinistö expressed his support for Japan’s position.