Japan-Sweden Summit Meeting and Working Dinner (Summary)

 
On December 4, commencing at 6:15 p.m., for approximately 20 minutes, Mr. ISHIBA Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit meeting with H.E. Ulf KRISTERSSON, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, who is visiting Japan. Commencing at 6:40 p.m., the two leaders also had a working dinner for approximately 60 minutes. The overview of the events is as follows.

On this occasion, the two leaders issued the Joint Statement on the Strategic Partnership between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden.
 
1 Opening Remarks
     Prime Minister Ishiba welcomed Prime Minister Kristersson's visit to Japan and the upgrading of the Japan-Sweden relationship to a strategic partnership, and expressed his desire to steadily build on security cooperation in light of Sweden's NATO membership, and economic cooperation, including in the areas of green transition, digital and life sciences.
     In response, Prime Minister Kristersson stated that Japan and Sweden have a long history of friendship and that he hoped today's meeting would be an opportunity to further develop the bilateral relationship, and welcomed the upgrading of the Japan-Sweden relationship to a strategic partnership.
 
2 Bilateral Relations
(1) The two leaders highly appreciated deepening cooperation between the two countries in a wide range of fields, and welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation on energy and innovation, and expressed their expectations for future cooperation, especially in the nuclear energy field.
(2) Prime Minister Ishiba welcomed Sweden's accession to NATO with regard to cooperation in the security field. The two leaders confirmed that defense equipment and technology cooperation between the two countries will be materialized based on the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden concerning the Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology.
 
3 Regional Issues
(1) The two leaders exchanged views on the Ukraine issue and shared serious concern over the advancement of Russia-North Korea military cooperation, including the deployment of North Korea’s troops to Russia and engagement in combat against Ukraine. The two leaders concurred to continue to work together as the security of the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific are increasingly inseparable.
(2) The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in East Asia, such as policies towards North Korea, and concurred to continue to work closely between Japan and Sweden.