Japan and EU announce security partnership amid growing regional tensions

EU and Japan to enhance military ties through joint exercises and defence industry exchanges against regional threats.

Japan and the European Union have announced a security and defence partnership, as they seek to step up military ties amid growing tensions with China, North Korea and Russia.

“We live in a very dangerous world,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters in Tokyo on Friday, alongside Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

“We live in a world of growing rivalries, climate accidents and threats of war. And there is only one antidote to this challenging world, which is partnerships among friends,” Borrell added, announcing the security partnership.

The agreement is the first that the EU has concluded with an Asia Pacific country, the two officials said.

“It is an historical and very timely step given the situation in both of our regions,” Borrell said.

The EU official is in Tokyo as part of an East Asia tour that includes South Korea, where he will also hold a strategic dialogue, underscoring the EU’s increasing engagement with the Asia Pacific region, as China and Russia step up joint military activities and North Korea sends troops to Russia.

Their talks came a day after North Korea test-fired what is believed to be a new type of ICBM-class ballistic missile.

Borrell and Iwaya also shared “grave concern” about Russia’s deepening military cooperation with North Korea, including the North’s troop deployment to Russia and arms transfers between the two countries, according to an EU statement. The two officials reiterated their commitment to supporting Ukraine and condemned Russian aggression.

Japan, under a new security strategy adopted in 2022, has been rapidly accelerating its military buildup through its alliance with the United States, its only treaty ally, and other partners, including Australia, the United Kingdom and a number of European and Asia Pacific countries, to deter an increasingly assertive China.

EU’s foreign policy chief Borrell and Japan’s Foreign Minister Iwaya [Kyodo via Reuters]

Tokyo has also significantly eased its voluntary arms export ban, seeking to expand its defence industry and play a greater role globally. Japan is jointly developing a next-generation fighter jet with the UK and Italy.

The text of the EU-Japan Security and Defence Partnership said they would promote “concrete naval cooperation” including through activities such as joint exercises and port calls, which could also include “mutually designated third countries”.

It also said the EU and Japan would discuss “the development of respective defence initiatives including exchange of information on defence industry-related matters”.

Earlier on Friday, Borrell met Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani and shared the view that security in Europe and the Asia Pacific is interconnected as they agreed to deepen defence cooperation, Japan’s Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The two officials expressed grave concern about North Korea’s missile development programme and its growing military cooperation with Russia, saying they are significant challenges for the international community.

“We reaffirmed the need for strengthened EU-Japan cooperation in security and defence, including on maritime security, cyber and hybrid threats amid growing regional and global security challenges,” Borrell said on the social media platform X.