Japan and NATO agreed to cooperate closely on global security threats, including the crisis in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and North Korea’s past abductions of Japanese citizens.
Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed during their meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, to take cooperation in various fields, particularly the defense industry, to “a new level.” The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement following the meeting. NATO has been strengthening its relations with Indo-Pacific partners such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea in recent years. The alliance shares the view that security in the European-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions cannot be considered separately.
