In this photo taken by Kyodo, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell shakes hands with Japanese Defense Minister General Nakatani in Tokyo, Japan, on November 1, 2024. , Photo courtesy: Reuters
Japan and the European Union announced a sweeping new security and defense partnership in Tokyo on Friday (November 2, 2024), in what EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described as a historic and “very timely” step.
Mr Borrell and his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya unveiled the agreement to develop cooperation on joint military exercises, exchange of information related to the defense industry and space security, among other matters.
“I am extremely pleased to be here with Minister Iwaya to announce the conclusion of this security and defense partnership between the EU and Japan,” Mr Borrell said.
He described it as “the first agreement of this nature” that the EU has signed with an Asia-Pacific country, calling it “historic and very timely”.
“We live in a very dangerous world” and “given the situation in both our regions, this political framework deepens our ability to deal together with emerging threats”, Mr Borrell told reporters.
He did not mention China, but Japan has previously described its neighbor as its biggest security challenge as Beijing builds military capacity in the region.
After the Tokyo talks, Mr Borrell will head to South Korea, where concerns about North Korea will top the agenda.
The United States has said thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia ready to fight in Ukraine.
Pyongyang also tested one of its latest and most powerful missiles on Thursday, demonstrating its threat to the US mainland just days before the election.
– Defense Industry –
The text of the EU-Japan security and defense partnership seen by AFP says they will promote “concrete naval cooperation”, including activities such as joint exercises and port calls, which could also involve “mutually designated third countries” .
It also said the EU and Japan would discuss “the development of related defense initiatives, including exchange of information on matters related to the defense industry”.
Japan, which has depended on the United States for military hardware for decades, is also developing a new fighter jet with EU members Italy and Britain that will be ready to fly by 2035.
Analyst Yi Kuang Heng of the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy told AFP that the agreement on industrial cooperation “could turbo-charge cooperation, such as joint defense projects between Japanese and European firms funded through the EU mechanism Could be on the cards”.
Japan is increasing defense spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP by 2027, partly to counter China, which is increasing military pressure on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who could lead a minority government after last week’s disastrous general election, has said that “today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia”.
Mr. Ishiba has also called for the creation of a NATO-like regional alliance with the principle of collective security, although he acknowledged that this “will not happen overnight”.
The same warning was issued by Mr Ishiba’s predecessor Fumio Kishida, who was hosted by US President Joe Biden for a state visit in April, in which the allies announced plans to boost their defense partnership.
On Friday (November 2, 2024), Mr Borrell and Mr Iwaya “exchanged an instrument of ratification for the Japan-EU Strategic Partnership Agreement, or SPA”, Mr Iwaya said, referring to a separate, previously agreed agreement. Hui said.
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published – November 02, 2024 12:35 PM IST