Love Letter from Brussels
<< Back List Next >>
Resuming Work (No.48)
16/01/2017
Resuming Work
Happy New Year! Thank you in advance for your support this year as well.
Towards the end of last year, I took my vacation somewhat earlier and spent it in Japan. However, early in the New Year on the first of January, I resumed my duties in Belgium in order to welcome Minister of Defense Mrs. Inada in Brussels on January 4. Minister Inada arrived in the evening of the 4th and had a meeting with Secretary General of NATO Mr. Stoltenberg at the NATO headquarters on the 5th in the morning. Following this, Minister Inada received various briefings from the different parties involved before leaving for Paris, her next destination.
It has been 10 Years!
That is to say that although the Minister’s visit lasted under 24 hours, this was actually an important one: it was only the second time a Minister of Defense of Japan visited NATO since the very first visit by Minister of Defense Kyuma 10 years ago.
Speaking of ten years ago, the then Prime Minister Abe was the first Prime Minister of Japan to give a speech at the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in January 2007. After that he gave another speech at the NAC in May 2014, whilst borrowing the words of the then Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Rasmussen, when he called the relation between Japan and NATO one of “reliable and necessary partners”.
Compared to 10 years ago, I think the relation between Japan and NATO has become much closer and deeper. It is not limited to the regular exchange of information on the regional state of affairs or various joint training exercises and maneuvers, such as the 2 joint anti-piracy exercises in the Gulf of Aden.
As introduced in this homepage, one female official of the Self-Defense Forces, who’s also a member of the Japanese Embassy, is working now at the NATO headquarters in the field of WPS (Women, Peace and Security). Minister Inada has announced this time that she will continue to dispatch a SDF official to that position. In fact, from this summer onwards, another female SDF official will take over the duties of the current official at the same post.
Minister Inada also announced that she would station a SDF liaison officer at NATO’s SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in order to continue and strengthen the cooperation on various fields, such as maritime security, cyber security, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and Women, Peace and Security.
These measures will further deepen the ties between Japan and NATO and they were welcomed and highly appreciated by the Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Stoltenberg.
A good start
And thus the year got off to a good start for the relations between Japan and NATO. Also, looking at what’s ahead, it will be an eventful year for our relations with NATO. Around spring, the new NATO Headquarters will finally be completed and, together with the opening ceremony, a NATO summit meeting will be held in Brussels. This might be the first opportunity for the new American President Trump to visit Europe.
In relation with Japan, since the annual Japan-EU Summit had to be postponed last year, it is expected that it will take place at some point this year in Brussels. I think it would be very fruitful if we could organize another visit of our Prime Minister to NATO HQ on that occasion. And, within the realm of possibilities, my country would like to welcome NATO Secretary General Mr. Stoltenberg to Japan sometime this year.
I believe it is of great importance to take advantage of this opportunity to further strengthen the Japan-NATO relations in concrete terms in these times of an increasingly severe security environment worldwide. As this is one my challenges this year, I will do my best.
