NATO Summit to Open, Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi to Miss Due to Diet Schedule

(Central News Agency, Tokyo, July 7, Comprehensive Foreign News) Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has decided not to attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) annual summit to be held in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, from July 7 to 8. This marks the second consecutive year a Japanese prime minister has missed the NATO summit.

According to reports from TV Asahi and Mainichi Shimbun, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kiuchi explained today, "As the extraordinary Diet session is currently underway, and after considering various factors including the Diet schedule, Prime Minister Takaichi will not attend the NATO leaders' related meetings."

This year's NATO summit will be attended by Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi for related events.

In 2022, then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the first Japanese prime minister to attend a NATO summit, and he participated for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024, advocating that security in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region are inseparable and calling for deeper cooperation.

The Mainichi Shimbun pointed out that after Kishida's successor, Shigeru Ishiba, took office, he did not attend the NATO summit. Although Takaichi was invited by the summit's host, Turkey, similar to the Ishiba administration, she decided not to attend as no sideline meeting with U.S. President Trump was anticipated.

A senior official from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (equivalent to the Ministry of External Affairs) explained, "Unfortunately, we did not have a meeting with President Trump previously. Japan and NATO continue to cooperate in areas such as aerospace and servers."

During this international conference, leaders of NATO member states will gather, along with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and representatives from the European Union. Key agenda items include the U.S.'s previous request for member states to increase defense spending to approximately 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035, and methods for continued support for Ukraine. (Compiled by Yang Weijing) 0707115

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