Japan and the European Union announced a security partnership and defense, the Associated Press reported. The two countries want to strengthen their military ties, including through joint exercises and exchanges between their defense industries, amid rising tensions with China, North Korea and Russia, BTA cited.
This is the first security partnership the EU has concluded with an Indo-Pacific country, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.
Borrell is in Tokyo as part of a diplomatic tour of East Asia, which also includes South Korea, where he will also hold a strategic dialogue. He highlighted the EU's increasing engagement with the Indo-Pacific region as China and Russia increase their joint military activities and North Korea sends troops to Russia.
Their talks came a day after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile believed to be a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile.
According to an EU statement, Borel and Ivaya expressed “serious concern” on deepening military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, including the deployment of North Korean troops in Russia and arms transfers between the two countries. The two official representatives confirmed their commitment to support Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression.
Under the new security strategy adopted in 2022, Japan is rapidly accelerating work to strengthen its armed forces through its alliance with the United States and with other partners, including Australia, the United Kingdom and a number of European and Indo-Pacific countries. to deter an increasingly aggressive China.
Tokyo has also significantly eased its arms export ban as it seeks to expand its defense industry and play a greater role globally. Japan is jointly developing a next-generation fighter with Great Britain and Italy.
Under the new partnership, Japan and the EU said that Europe and the Indo-Pacific region are “highly interconnected and interdependent” and agreed to hold regular working-level dialogue on security and defense as well as joint naval exercises, including with other countries. They said they would also cooperate in cyber security and space defense.
The two countries will consider a possible intelligence-sharing pact, promote the exchange of defense industry information, and cooperate in nuclear disarmament efforts.
Iwaya said that the relationship between Japan and the EU is stronger than ever and that the two countries will “continue to cooperate closely in a wide range of areas, including security”.
Borrell met with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani earlier today and said that security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region is interconnected. They agreed to deepen defense cooperation, Japan's Defense Ministry said in a statement quoted by the AP.
The two officials expressed serious concern about North Korea's missile development program and its growing military cooperation with Russia.