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TOP > What's up around the Prime Minister > June, 2008

1st Day of the Prime Minister's Visit to Europe
(The Federal Republic of Germany)


Sunday, June 1, 2008

Photograph of the two leaders attending the welcome ceremony Photograph of the Prime Minister arriving at Tegel Airport, Germany Photograph of the two leaders at the joint press conference
Photograph of the two leaders at the joint press conference Photograph of the two leaders at the joint press conference

Click photographs to enlarge


Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, together with Mrs. Kiyoko Fukuda, left Haneda Airport to visit Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy, and arrived at Tegel Airport in Berlin, Germany, the first destination of the tour.

At the Federal Chancellery, Prime Minister Fukuda, along with Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, received the salute of a guard of honor. The two leaders thereafter held a meeting. At the meeting, they exchanged frank opinions on major subjects on the agenda of the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in July and agreed to step up coordination and cooperation for the success of the G8 Summit.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Fukuda expressed his resolve for the G8 Summit to achieve concrete results on the various issues that will be major agenda items including the world economy, the environment and climate change, development and Africa, and rising food prices, and to send a unified message as the G8. The Prime Minister also said that Japan will host a breakfast meeting with the leaders of five emerging countries during the G8 Summit, as part of the Heiligendamm Dialogue Process launched by Chancellor Merkel on the occasion of last year's G8 Summit.

In response, Chancellor Merkel said that it is important for the G8 to send a strong message on each one of the subjects pointed out by Prime Minister Fukuda, and expressed her appreciation for the continuation of the Heiligendamm Dialogue Process.

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