Press Releases

On May 23, commencing at 5:15 p.m. for around 30 minutes, Mr. Fumio Kishida, Minister for Foreign Affairs, received a courtesy call from Mr. Volker Kauder, Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, and others. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. Bilateral relations

   Minister Kishida welcomed Chairman Kauder, who has visited Japan annually for four consecutive years. He also expressed the desire to continue cooperation on various international issues. In response, Chairman Kauder stated that Japan and Germany, as countries sharing common values, should continue to deepen cooperation in the international arena. Both reaffirmed the importance of collaboration among countries on shared basic values such as democracy, the market economy, and the rule of law.

2. Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

   Minister Kishida said that the revitalization of the economies of Japan and Europe would contribute to the world economy as a whole, and stated the hope that the Japan-EU EPA would produce good results to this end. In response, Chairman Kauder expressed expectations for the early settlement of negotiations on the Japan-EU EPA.

3. European debt crisis

   Minister Kishida touched upon the support given by Japan at the time of the European debt crisis, stating that Japan and Europe have a deep relationship of mutual economic dependency, and expressing expectations for continued leadership and efforts by Germany as the largest economy in Europe.

4. In addition, the two had an exchange of opinions about regional issues of mutual interest.