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| Top What's up around the Prime Minister April, 2004 |
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Prime Minister Meets with Representatives of a Group Campaigning for the Return of the Northern Islands
At the meeting, Mr. Tatsuya Hori, the former Governor of Hokkaido and current Vice-Chairman of the Hokkaido and Tohoku National Rally to Demand the Return of the Northern Territories, as well as representatives of a group campaigning for the return of the Northern Islands, made requests to Prime Minister Koizumi, Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Toshimitsu Motegi, the Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, calling on the Government to make an active effort toward the resolution of the territories issue at the earliest possible date. On the occasion, Prime Minister Koizumi said, "The Russian Federation is making a different response than the former Soviet Union. President Vladimir Putin has been reelected, and former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who is the Chair of the Japan-Russia Eminent Persons' Council for the Japan side, will visit Russia to hold talks with President Putin this week. There is no change in the policy of the Government that no peace treaty will be concluded without the return of the Four Northern Islands. I expect for heated debates to take place among the public on resolving the issue of the Northern Territories."
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