(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
Today, I attended the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting for the first time as Japan’s Minister of Defense. This was also the first meeting that Defense Ministers from the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4: Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Republic of Korea [ROK]) were invited to attend as partner countries from the Indo-Pacific region. This is the proof that many countries now share the recognition that the security of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific is inseparable, and I believe this fact is highly significant. At the meeting, I spoke about the need for us, as like-minded countries, to unite even more firmly and continue to provide stable support to Ukraine in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. I also described Japan’s efforts to support Ukraine. Regarding the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, I emphasized Japan’s stance to oppose unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, and expressed serious concern about the expansion of military cooperation between China and Russia as well as Russia and North Korea. In addition, I welcomed the steady progress in practical security and defense cooperation in areas such as cyber, space and strategic communications, based on the Japan-NATO Individually Tailored Partnership Programme (ITPP) in recent years. Moreover, I paid a courtesy call to Mr. Rutte, NATO Secretary General at the venue. I expressed my congratulations for Mr. Rutte’s appointment as the Secretary General, and reiterated my appreciation for the invitation extended to IP4 to the NATO Defense Ministers’ Meeting. Then, we affirmed that we will advance security and defense cooperation in various areas based on the ITPP. Furthermore, we took the opportunity to hold an IP4 Defense Authorities’ Meeting as well as Defense Ministerial Meetings with various countries, including Ukraine. At the IP4 Defense Authorities’ Meeting, I exchanged views on the regional situation and on cooperation among the IP4, with Collins, Minister of Defense of New Zealand, Conroy MP, Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery of Australia, and Mr. Kim, Vice Minister, Ministry of National Defense of ROK. We also concurred to continue to cooperate. At the Japan-Ukraine Defense Ministerial Meeting, I stated that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine causes tremendous suffering to Ukrainian people, and informed Japan has decided to provide additional Self-Defense Forces (SDF) vehicles to Ukraine. Minister Umerov expressed his deep gratitude for the support from Ministry of Defense and SDF. I also held the Japan-Netherlands Defense Ministerial Meeting, during which I welcomed that the Netherlands has enhanced its engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, and affirmed that we will continue to deepen the Japan-Netherlands defense cooperation and exchanges.