Japan and the EU announced a Strategic and Defence Partnership

Japan and the European Union have come to an agreement on the strategic partnership between the parties, both in the field of defence and security. European diplomat Josep Borrell and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya exchanged the relevant documents during the meeting.

 

‘We exchanged documents on the strategic partnership agreement. It will come into force on 1 January 2025. In addition, we agreed on partnership in the field of security and defence,’ the Japanese foreign minister said.

According to the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Japan became the first country in the Asia-Pacific region, which signed such an agreement with the European Union.

In turn, the head of European diplomacy stressed that this is ‘the first such cooperation programme in history, concluded by the European Union’ with a country in the Asia-Pacific region. According to Josep Borrell, the document will contribute to ‘strengthening security’ and will be aimed at building ‘a future based on democracy and respect for human rights, as well as maintaining a rules-based world order.’

‘Japan-EU relations are stronger than ever. We will work together on a wide range of issues, including security’, – emphasised Takeshi Iwaya.

Recall, earlier the official representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Lin Jian said that China has decided to freeze dialogue with the United States on non-proliferation and arms control because of Washington’s sale of US military products to Taiwan.