Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida during his visit to Tokyo on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the Albania-Japan diplomatic ties.
The two prime ministers issued statements at a joint press conference after their meeting:
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Thank you Prime Minister!
Allow me to express my most profound gratitude for your invitation and the very warm hospitality extended to us since the very first moment we landed in your wonderful country.
Japan is a country we respect and admire. Being here, sharing our views with our Japanese counterparts and discussing our common future together is quite a humbling experience for all of us.
I am visiting Japan after having won a record third term in office and I very much wish that you Prime Minister visit Albania and the region soon. It is great news to learn that your government is committed to appointing an ambassador responsible for the Western Balkans, since as I already highlighted during our talks, it is of fundamental importance that Japan enhances its presence in our region.
We are working together in the UN Security Council and, as you already stated, we have joined forces to support Ukraine and together condemn Russian aggression. It is a totally unacceptable violation of international law and a totally unacceptable attack against territorial integrity of another country. Therefore, we will continue to work side by side with our Japanese friends and allies in the Security Council, and we are very, very honored to do so.
As the Prime Minister mentioned, we have looked at the national defense strategy that he has drawn up and I expressed my highest praise for this very comprehensive document covering the issues of these troubling times in such an inspiring way.
I would like to conclude my remarks by joining the honorable Prime Minister in emphasizing the need and readiness to strengthen our bilateral ties, to strengthen our bilateral cooperation and to witness more things happening between our two nations.
It is true that our two countries are geographically distant, we are different in the sense that Japan is big and we are small, Japan is rich, we are not that rich, but in an increasingly troubling world and increasingly plagued by unexpected crises, we believe that more than differences, what brings us together, namely the values and being part of this family of values, is much more important now than ever before.
So, looking forward that the Japanese government will soon allow Albanians to travel without visa to Japan as the Japanese can travel freely to Albania, we look forward to this cooperation being strengthened and once again I would like to wholeheartedly appreciate the Prime Minister, the Japanese ambassador to Albania, all those who have been so kind to us during this short stay in Tokyo and also all the journalists present here.
Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida: I would like to welcome the Prime Minister of Albania Rama on his tour to Japan, the first visit by an Albanian Prime Minister in 15 years.
Japan and Albania are two countries with similar mentality that share fundamental values. Japan and Albania are both currently serving as non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council this year. I had a meeting with Mr. Rama earlier, where we directly and fairly exchanged views on the bilateral relations, as well as other issues concerning the international community.
During our meeting, we agreed to strongly condemn Russian aggression on Ukraine, which is a clear violation of international law and violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
I noted that as the only country to have suffered the devastation from the wartime use of nuclear weapons, Japan would never accept Russian nuclear threats. Working in partnership with the international community, we will continue to convey a clear message about this.
I also said that during its presidency of the Group of 7 (G7) this year, Japan will exercise its leadership to compile tough sanctions against Russia and to aid Ukraine. We agreed that our countries should continue to work closely, including the resolution to be issued by the United Nations General Assembly.
We also took stock of the economic relations between the two countries, including tuna fish imports from Albania, as well as our plans to establish the Albanian-Japan Chamber of Commerce. We very much hope that Albanian exports to Japan and the Japanese investments in Albania will grow in the wake of the Prime Minister’s visit.
Peace and regional prosperity in the Western Balkans, including Albania, is crucial not only to Europe, but to the international community as a whole, including Japan.
To this end, through the Western Balkans cooperation initiative, Japan intends to strengthen its support for the reform efforts in the Western Balkan countries to join the European Union and will appoint an ambassador responsible for Western Balkans.
After this press conference, Prime Minister Rama and I will focus on the Japan-Albania relations and Albania’s role in ethnic reconciliation. We will also discuss the difficult security environment in the Pacific and in the region.
I intend to explain to the Prime Minister the national security strategy that our government has adopted, recognizing this current situation, and during the meeting I actually learned that he understood or rather knew such a thing. I hope that Mr. Rama’s visit will further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries.
