NATO deleted in the final round of discussion, Japanese media: Summit | NATO | Discussion on Japan
According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun on the 11th, the NATO Summit was held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, from July 11th to 12th. According to insiders, NATO has removed the phrase "establishing a liaison office in Tokyo, Japan" from the final joint communiqu é.
According to reports, informed sources stated that the statement "NATO will continue to discuss with the Japanese government to establish a liaison office in Tokyo" was retained in the previous rounds of discussion, but was removed in the final round.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun previously reported that the plan for NATO to open the first liaison office in Asia in Tokyo, Japan, was postponed until the autumn of 2023.
It is said that NATO's initial plan was to include the content of the newly established liaison office in Japan in the relevant documents passed at the Vilnius summit. According to NATO regulations, making relevant decisions must obtain unanimous approval from NATO member countries, but France has clearly stated that it does not support this plan.
The report points out that the summit will discuss topics such as negotiations for Sweden's accession to NATO, the establishment of a long-term aid framework for Ukraine, and the extension of the current NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg's term by one year.
According to insiders, the establishment of the Tokyo Liaison Office has a "lower priority" compared to the urgent issues mentioned earlier, and related work may be postponed until after the autumn of 2023 or later.