(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
Tomorrow, Wednesday, May 28, I will welcome Minister of Defence Backes of Luxembourg and Minister of National Defence Šakalienė of Lithuania to the Ministry of Defense and hold bilateral defense ministerial meetings with the respective ministers. The defense ministerial meeting with Luxembourg will be held for the first time in approximately 18 years since the previous meeting in Tokyo in 2007. It will be convened on the occasion of the visit to Japan by Minister Backes and His Royal Highness Grand Duke Henri for the National Day of Luxembourg at the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan. Japan and Luxembourg have very friendly relations, with deep ties between the Imperial Household and the Grand Ducal Household. I look forward to deepening our relations in the area of defense through a candid exchange of views on the regional security environment and future cooperation and exchanges between the two countries. Additionally, the defense ministerial meeting with Lithuania will be held for the first time since the previous meeting in Singapore last June. Japan and Lithuania have seen their defense cooperative relationship grow rapidly in recent years, including the signing of the Memorandum on Defense Cooperation and Exchanges two years ago in 2023. At the upcoming meeting, I hope to exchange wide-ranging views on the regional security environment as well as the advancement of concrete efforts under the memorandum. Through the meetings with both countries, which share common universal values with Japan, we intend to work more closely with the two countries toward the realization of a rules-based international order and a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” with the recognition that Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security are inseparable.