Press Releases
Telephone Talk between Foreign Minister Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu and
European Union High Representative/ European Commission Vice-President Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles
March 19, 2020
On March 19, commencing at 7:00 p.m. for approximately 25 minutes, Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a telephone talk with H.E. Mr. Josep Borrell Fontelles, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission. The overview of the telephone talk is as follows.
- Minister Motegi stated that international partnership, in particular, partnership among G7 members, symbolized as the G7 Summit videoconference the other day, is extremely important to contain the novel coronavirus, and explained the Japan’s situation as well as the measures taken by the Japanese Government.
- High Representative Borrell referred to their measures to prevent the spread of the disease and various impacts in the economy.
- They shared the view on the three following points.
(1) As the disease spreads in the respective countries, Japan and the EU will share lessons and insights gained from disease response measures, and in particular, since the development of treatments and vaccines is extremely important, Japan and the EU will strengthen public and private initiatives together.
(2) Temporary and appropriate border measures are conceivable for preventing the spread of the disease and it is important to share information with the relevant countries when taking such measures.
(3) Japan and the EU will cooperate to ensure the safety of both Japanese and European nationals residing respectively, and in particular, the EU will support measures taken by its member states in Europe. - They confirmed that they will discuss measures on the novel coronavirus extensively at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting next week and continue cooperating.