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Shinzo Abe, in a first official visit of a Japanese PM to Bucharest
President Klaus Iohannis will welcome on Tuesday Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is paying an official visit to Bucharest, a release of the Presidential Administration informs.
This first visit to Romania of a Japanese Prime Minister takes place in the context of celebrating five years since agreeing on, in 2013, the Renewed Partnership between Romania and Japan.
The welcoming at the Cotroceni Place will occasion discussions in an exclusive format, talks in the delegations' plenary, press statements and an official dinner which President Iohannis will offer in honor of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the quoted source reveals.
The discussion agenda includes "the stage and outlooks on strengthening the very good relations of the Renewed Partnership between Romania and Japan, in terms of politics, economy, culture, security and interhuman relationships," the Presidential Administration mentions.
Moreover, several topics will be tackled such as Japan's cooperation with the EU, including in the context of the Economic Partnership Agreement between Japan and the Union, developments on a regional level, with an emphasis on the North-Korean file, the Romanian-Japanese cooperation on a multilateral level, respectively.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Tokyo on Friday for a diplomatic tour in Central and Eastern Europe, which will include the three Balkan countries, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, in the context in which Japan tries to obtain support for its firm politics towards North-Korea.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has held talks with his Latvian counterpart Maris Kucinskis on Saturday. In Riga, the two politicians agreed it was necessary to increase the diplomatic pressure on North Korea. Both said Pyongyang needed to give up its nuclear and missile programme.
Shinzo Abe wants a “tough approach” on the North Korean regime. His host Kucinskis said he shared the same view.
Maris Kucinskis and Shinzo Abe also discussed their intention to further strengthen relations between Japan and the Baltic states, including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, and agreed to organise separate talks on this subject later this year.
Before arriving in Latvia, Shinzo Abe had already visited Lithuania, where he held talks with President Dalia Grybauskaite and Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis. The three dialogue partners talked about a closer cooperation as well. Defence, cyber security and economic subjects are supposed to be in the foreground here.
Shinzo Abe also honoured Chiune Sugihara, a former vice consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania, who saved 2,500 Jews during the Holocaust, by issuing visas for them.
No Japanese Prime Minister has visited Latvia or Lithuania before. The same applies to Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia, three more countries Shinzo Abe will visit now.
In the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, the Japanese head of government will meet both President Roumen Radev and Prime Minister Boiko Borissov. During Bulgaria’s EU Council Presidency, which started on January 1, Shinzo Abe wants to talk about the implementation of a free-trade agreement between Japan and the European Union, Bulgarian media informs.
According to the agreement, Japan will not have to pay tariffs on European imports of Japanese vehicles and goods anymore, while Europe will not pay for agricultural exports to Japan. Tokyo connects high hopes to the agreement.
In Sofia, Bucharest and Belgrade, Shinzo Abe will be looking for more support on his hard stance on North Korea as well.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also President of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has ruled Japan since 1955, with the exception of four years.