Press Conferences

Kurihara, NHK: Today Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will depart for the Elmau Summit which will take place in Germany. What sort of outcomes are you hoping for?

Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Prime Minister Abe departs today, and will visit Ukraine and Germany.

Regarding his visit to Ukraine, to begin with, this will be the first visit by a Japanese Prime Minister to Ukraine. Alongside, of course, there is the strengthening of the bilateral relationship between Japan and Ukraine; besides, we have to call for a peaceful resolution of the so-called Ukraine issues, with the emphasis on the Minsk agreement.

Inaddition, Japan is the largest donor as a single country to Ukraine. Encouraging Ukraine to carry out reform by themselves is certainly important as well, I believe.

Following that, Prime Minister Abe is scheduled to attend the Elmau Summit in Germany. I expect that pressing international issues will be discussed, including climate change, energy, and the economy. Japan is scheduled to serve as the G7 chair country next year.

The Government of Japan by all means intends to contribute actively to this Summit, in order to carry it forward to the G7 Summit in Japan next year.

Kurihara, NHK: Regarding the intention to link this Summit to the G7 Summit in Japan next year, I understand that the Government had plans to work towards being able to announce the venue by the leaders’ meeting at the summit in Germany. Given that Prime Minister Abe will depart soon, what is the outlook for that announcement, and what procedure and format will that announcement follow?

Minister Kishida: I am aware that there were comments that the venue for the summit to be held in Japan next year will be announced, at the latest, at the Elmau Summit. My understanding is that nothing has been decided yet regarding the specific timing and the location of the announcement. That is all I know at present.

Kurihara, NHK: Yesterday, during the questioning of unsworn witnesses in the Research Commission on the Constitution in the House of Representatives, each of the three academic experts who attended the commission expressed their opinions that the security related bill being discussed by the Special Committee might be unconstitutional. As we approach the culmination of proceedings for the bill, what impact do you think this will have on future deliberations in the Diet?

Minister Kishida: Debates on the Constitution took place ceaselessly at various discussions on security issues, such as the revisions to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty or the deliberations on the PKO bill. Various discussions on the Constitution have been held in the past, and the Government continuously made careful explanations. In the current discussions on the Constitution, I think we must continue to provide these careful explanations.

Kurihara, NHK: At his press conference yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga stated that these opinions were incorrect. Minister Kishida, do you have the same understanding?

Minister Kishida: I have the same understanding. I am aware that various academic experts have their own opinions, and some are of the opinion that the revision is not unconstitutional. Regarding the Cabinet decision on July 1 of last year as well, many experts have participated in the discussion in the Advisory Panel on Reconstruction of the Legal Basis for Security. Subsequently, discussions also continued in the council of the ruling parties. I believe this is a result from those efforts.

Makita, Kyodo Press: My question concerns the Summit. At this point in time, the timing of the announcement and the venue for the Summit has not been determined, but I think that the announcement can only be made today if it is before the Prime Minster begins his trip. Might the announcement be made while he is onsite?

Minister Kishida: I have not heard anything regarding the matter including that point. I do not know about that.