Opening remarks

Thank you so much. 

And then let me say Japan is a long-standing and valued partner and indeed this goes back to the early 1980s so let me thank you for that. And I really want to acknowledge what the Secretary General, Mr President, Mr adviser and of course all the other members of the house of councillors and representatives, thank you for taking time. 

Let me also acknowledge the excellent Ambassador of Japan to NATO, who is here with us and has also been very helpful in organising the whole programme. Japan and NATO not only share many of the same values, we face many of the same challenges. We are cooperating more than ever, for example on cyber defence, emerging and disruptive technologies but also developing the defence industrial base. And I want to thank the members of the Diet for making it possible for Japan to be so generous in its help vis à vis Ukraine when it comes to the Comprehensive Assistance Package, but also when it comes to all the humanitarian support Japan is giving to Ukraine. It is highly valued.

And Mr President, in your other capacity as Minister of Defence of Japan, yesterday you announced the interest of Japan to become a member of NSATU, the command for Ukraine in Wiesbaden. And this is really important, and it shows that these two areas – the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo Pacific - are more and more connected, thanks may I say to North Korea and China. They are not only enabling Russia’s war effort in Ukraine but China is also actively and rapidly developing its own defence capabilities including the navy. 

We have a lot to discuss and again thank you for hosting and I’m looking forward to our discussions.