On June 6th, Mr. Hayashi Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a meeting with Dr. Pål Jonson, Minister for Defence of Sweden.
Minister Hayashi welcomed Minister Jonson’s visit to Japan and mentioned his participation to the EU-Sweden Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum held in Stockholm last month. Minister Hayashi stated that he highly appreciated Sweden’s efforts to organize the Forum as the EU Presidency, and he also stated that Japan attaches importance to cooperation with Sweden, and welcomed the progress of cooperation in many areas, including security.
In response, Minister Jonson stated that he expressed his gratitude for Minister Hayashi’s visit to Sweden and stated that Sweden attaches importance to the bilateral relations with Japan. He also stated that he would like to advance the cooperation with Japan in the Indo-Pacific.
Minister Hayashi pointed out that as the international security environment has become more severe, cooperation with the like-minded countries has become more important than ever and expressed Japan’s support for Sweden’s decision to apply for NATO membership.
They exchanged views on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and regional affairs such as China and North Korea.
