Europe

   Japan and Europe are strategic partners sharing fundamental values. The European Union (EU), now with 27 member states as of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania on January 1, 2007, is an enormous economic zone, with a population of some 490 million people and a gross domestic product of approximately 13.6 trillion US dollars. Japan and the EU have confirmed their shared recognition of the importance of their cooperation in addressing the challenges facing the globe, making use of various opportunities, including numerous VIP visits, such as the September 2006 visit to Europe by Prime Minister Koizumi, the January 2007 visit by Prime Minister Abe, and the May 2006 and January 2007 visits by Foreign Minister Aso. Furthermore, NATO and Japan are both making their respective efforts in the same direction which aims for international peace and stability. At its November Summit in Riga, NATO stated that it would pursue a strengthening of its relationships with individual non-member states, including Japan. Through policy speeches delivered to the North Atlantic Council by both Prime Minister Abe and Foreign Minister Aso, Japan for its part enunciated its intention to pursue a reinforcement of its relationship with NATO. In the future Japan will hold close discussions with NATO regarding more substantial cooperation.

   Russia's success in convening its first G8 summit as chair, coupled with the robust economy resulting from high crude oil prices, helped in maintaining the stable administrative base under President Vladimir Putin. At the Japan-Russia head-of-state dialogue held on the occasion of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November, Prime Minister Abe and President Putin agreed on continuously furthering the cooperation between the two countries across a broad range of fields based on the “Japan-Russia Action Plan”.

   As for relations with the countries of Central Asia and Caucasus, Japan held in Tokyo the Second Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the “Central Asia plus Japan” Dialogue, a dialogue launched in August 2004 with these nations of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Strengthening of relationships also resulted from Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Central Asia, through which he became the first Japanese prime minister in history to visit the region, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Japan.