TAKING THE JAPAN -NATO
PARTNERSHIP TO
NEW HEIGHTSFOR WORLD PEACEJULY 12, 2023
Full Text: https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/diplomatic/202307/12natosession.html

In July 2023, Prime Minister Kishida attended the NATO Summit Meeting, following his participation
last year as the first Japanese leader to attend the Summit. In addition to Japan, 31 NATO member countries,
as well as major NATO partner countries and organizations, attended the Summit’s Partner Session. As thefirst representative of a partner country to speak, Prime Minister Kishida gave the following message.
The international community is facing a historicalturning point due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
The security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are
inseparable, and it is widely shared that the aggression
against Ukraine is not only a European issue, but a global
one. At the same time, we welcome the further increase
in interest and engagement in the Indo-Pacific among

our like-minded countries of the Euro-Atlantic area.
In this regard, today’s meeting is an important
opportunity for like-minded countries of the EuroAtlantic and Indo-Pacific to strengthen their cooperationand demonstrate this to the international community.
I once again salute the efforts of Secretary-General
Stoltenberg and the Lithuanian government inOn July 12, G7 leaders—who all participated in theNATO Summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania—came together
and issued a “Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine.” At
the announcement ceremony, which Ukrainian President
Zelenskyy also attended, Prime Minister Kishida, speaking
in his capacity as Chair of the G7, stated that he waspleased to announce the Joint Declaration.

organizing today’s meeting.
During my visits to Kyiv and Bucha in March of thisyear, I was reminded once again of the urgent need toput an end to Russian aggression as soon as possible.
With this determination in mind, I held the G7
Hiroshima Summit in the A-bombed city of Hiroshima,
where I openly discussed world peace and stability withthe leaders of the G7, Ukraine, and invited countries,including the Global South. They agreed on thefollowing four principles: 1) the principles of the UN
Charter must be upheld; 2) conflicts should beresolved peacefully through dialogue and in favor ofa just and lasting peace based on international law;3) unilateral change of the status quo by force is not
acceptable anywhere in the world; and 4) a free andopen international order based on the rule of law must be
upheld. The international community was able to reachconsensus on these four principles. These are fundamental
principles that the international community must uniteand follow for peace, stability, and prosperity, and as
the G7 Presidency, we will continue to do our utmost.
We need to further strengthen the international
community’s cooperation to bring a just and lasting
peace to Ukraine as soon as possible. It is also importantto focus on issues such as food security and nuclear
safety, which are of vital importance to the internationalcommunity.
At the G7 Hiroshima Summit, we reaffirmed ourcommitment to strongly support Ukraine from all sides
and to continue our severe sanctions against Russia.
Japan has been providing humanitarian assistance,
financial support, recovery and reconstruction assistance,
and the provision of defense equipment, and will use
the $30 million it has contributed to the NATO TrustFund to provide the non-lethal equipment, such as theCounter-Unmanned Aircraft Detection Systems.
Peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific is directly
linked to the stability and growth of the Euro-Atlantic
region and the lives of its people. Asian partner countries
account for about 36% of the trade volume of European
countries. As cooperation among like-minded countries
across the region becomes increasingly important, wewill further deepen dialogue and cooperation between
AP4 and NATO. I condemn today’s launch of another
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) by North
Korea, which undermines regional and international

At the NATO Partner Session, future cooperation between NATO and theAsia-Pacific partners (AP4) and other organizations was discussed in light ofRussia’s aggression against Ukraine and the increasingly severe security
situation in the Indo-Pacific region.

peace and security. The international community has totake resolute actions.
As the international security environment becomes
more severe, the security base is rapidly expanding, andas the security environment is becoming more transregional, partners such as Japan and NATO, who sharefundamental values and strategic interests, should
further deepen their ties. I am pleased that we have agreed
on a new cooperation document between Japan andNATO that will take Japan-NATO cooperation to newheights to meet the challenges of a new era. In addition
to traditional areas, we will promote cooperation in new
areas such as cyber, emerging disruptive technologies,
space, and strategic communications, including responses
to information operations, and actively consider specificcooperation activities in areas such as humanitarianassistance and disaster relief.
Japan will further strengthen cooperation with thelike-minded countries gathered today to maintain andstrengthen a free and open international order basedon the rule of law, in order to lead the world toward
cooperation rather than division and confrontation, as
the international community faces a turning point inhistory.

The above speech was republished from the website of the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan:
https://japan.kantei.go.jp/101_kishida/diplomatic/202307/12natosession.html