By NEN SATOMI/ Staff Writer
October 18, 2024 at 18:18 JST
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attends the NATO defense ministers' meeting held in Brussels on Oct. 17. (Nen Satomi)
BRUSSELS--Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Oct. 17 attended the meeting of NATO defense ministers, the first time a Japanese defense chief met with counterparts from that European and North American alliance.
At the meeting, Nakatani expressed his deep concerns over the closer military cooperation between not only Russia and China, but also between Russia and North Korea.
Nakatani later told reporters that he said at the meeting that there was a need for continued solidarity among Japan, NATO members and other like-minded nations in providing stable, continued support to Ukraine in its war against Russia.
He also touched upon the increased threats closer to Japan, noting the recent rise in military exercises by China near Taiwan as well as the intrusion into Japanese airspace by Russian and Chinese military aircraft.
Nakatani said many nations participating in the session expressed the belief that a unilateral change in the status quo via use or threat of force should never be allowed.
NATO invited for the first time the defense ministers of Japan, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand as partner nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Nakatani told reporters that the NATO invitation was evidence that many nations held the common view that the security of the Indo-Pacific region was inseparable from that of Europe and the Atlantic.
Prior to the NATO defense ministers' meeting, Nakatani met separately with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and pledged to provide additional Self-Defense Forces vehicles.
Nakatani informed Umerov that the Defense Ministry and SDF continue to stand together with Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
This was Nakatani’s first overseas trip since becoming defense minister earlier this month.
He continues a trend of closer ties between Japan and NATO. In April 2022, then-Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi attended the NATO foreign ministers' meeting for the first time while then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the NATO summit in June 2022.
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