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Prime Minister Visits Europe (Belgium) Thursday, January 11 to Friday, January 12, 2007 JAPANESE

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On January 11, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Brussels, the capital of the Kingdom of Belgium, as the third stop in his tour. He held a meeting with Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission (EC) at the European Union (EU) Headquarters, after which the two leaders shared a working lunch. At the meeting, the two leaders agreed that Japan and the EU should deepen dialogue and cooperation in order to lead world prosperity and growth. As for international affairs, the two leaders discussed issues concerning North Korea, China, Iraq, the Middle East and Central Asia. They also confirmed that Japan and the EU would cooperate on the issues of climate change and energy. In the late afternoon, Prime Minister Abe held a meeting with Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium, at the Egmont Palace. At the meeting, Prime Minister Abe and Prime Minister Verhofstadt confirmed their intention to further strengthen the favorable, friendly relations between their countries. The two leaders agreed on their expectations for the expansion of their countries' human and economic exchanges, such as mutual investment. The two leaders also decided that their countries would closely cooperate and coordinate their efforts in the agenda of the early resolutions of the issues of the abductions by North Korea and its nuclear and missile development, as well as the United Nations (UN) Security Council reform. On the next day, January 12, Prime Minister Abe visited the Headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), where he held a meeting with Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Secretary General of NATO. Afterwards, Prime Minister Abe delivered an address at the North Atlantic Council, NATO's decision-making body, the first Japanese Prime Minister to do so. In his address, Prime Minister Abe appealed that Japan would strengthen its relations with NATO in order to proactively fulfill the country's responsibilities on the international level. He called for enhancing collaboration between Japan and NATO in Afghanistan; clarified Japan's stance on situations in Asia, including North Korea; and urged that Japan and NATO should now move on to a new phase of cooperation.