Japan and the European Union announce partnership in security and defense – Observer

Japan and the European Union (EU) announced this Friday a partnership on security and defense, at a time when they seek to intensify military ties, including joint exercises and exchanges between their respective defense industries.

Amid growing tensions with China, North Korea and Russia, the partnership is the first security-related partnership that the EU has concluded with an Indo-Pacific country, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told journalists. and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“We live in a very dangerous world. We live in a world of growing rivalries, climate accidents and threats of war. And there is only one antidote to this challenging world, and that is partnership between friends. This is a historic and very timely step considering the situation in our two regions,” said Borrell.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is in Tokyo as part of a trip to East Asia, which includes South Korea, where he will also maintain a strategic dialogue, highlighting the EU’s growing involvement in the Indo-Pacific region, as Beijing and Moscow intensify joint military activities and North Korea sends troops to Russia.

The talks took place a day after North Korea tested what is believed to be a new type of ICBM-class (intercontinental) ballistic missile.

According to an EU statement, Borrell and Iwaya also shared “great concern” about the deepening of military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia and the transfer of weapons between the two countries.

The two officials reiterated their commitment to supporting Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression.

Japan, within the scope of a new security strategy approved in 2022, has been rapidly accelerating military construction through the alliance with the United States, the only ally in the treaty, and other partners, including Australia, the United Kingdom and several European and Indo-Pacific countries, to deter an increasingly assertive China.

Tokyo has also significantly relaxed its voluntary ban on arms exports, as it seeks to expand its defense industry and play a more important role globally. Japan is jointly developing a next-generation combat aircraft with the United Kingdom and Italy.

According to a joint statement, and within the framework of the new partnership, Japan and the EU stated that Europe and the Indo-Pacific region are “highly interconnected and interdependent” and agreed to maintain a regular working-level security and defense dialogue and joint naval exercises, including other countries.

The two parties stated that they will also cooperate in the field of cybersecurity and space defense, as well as studying an information sharing pact, promoting the exchange of information on the defense industry and cooperating in nuclear disarmament efforts.

Iwaya said relations between Japan and the EU “are stronger than ever” and that the two parties “will continue to cooperate closely in a wide range of domains, including security.”

Also today, Borrell met with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and shared the opinion that security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are interconnected, having agreed to deepen defense cooperation.

In a statement, the Japanese Ministry of Defense highlighted that the two officials expressed great concern about North Korea’s missile development program and its growing military cooperation with Russia, stating that they constitute significant challenges for the international community.

“We reaffirm the need to strengthen cooperation between the EU and Japan on security and defense, particularly with regard to maritime security and cyber and hybrid threats, in a context of growing challenges in regional and global security” , stated Borrell on the social network X (formerly Twitter).