Japan Foreign Minister Kono and OSCE Secretary General Greminger meet in Vienna to discuss furthering co-operation and joint activities

Vienna, 15 February 2018 – Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono today met with Secretary General Thomas Greminger at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna, where they discussed Japan’s continuing engagement within the OSCE Asian Partnership and possible areas of further co-operation. The visit was the first ever to the OSCE by a Japanese foreign minister.

Minister Kono stressed the importance of the OSCE as the largest regional security organization, at a time when complex transnational challenges are shared by countries well beyond the borders of Europe.  He noted that the international liberal democratic order has been seriously endangered in recent years due to regional conflicts as well as transnational threats such as terrorism and cyber criminality.  “It is extremely important for Japan to be an active participant in the dialogue processes facilitated by the OSCE, but also to participate in activities that can help us to address common challenges to our shared values. Japan is strongly committed to the OSCE’s Asian Partnership and wishes to deepen its co-operation with the organization.  We are ready to support the OSCE’s efforts in a variety of areas such as support to institution-building, border management and cyber threats,” said Minister Kono.

Secretary General Greminger thanked Minister Kono for Japan’s longstanding commitment and financial contribution to the OSCE, stressing that Japan has been a strong supporter of the organization’s work ever since it became the first OSCE Asian Partner for Co-operation in 1992. “Japan is an important contributor to dialogue in the OSCE on key security challenges that affect Europe and Asia. The OSCE has in addition greatly benefited from Japan’s financial support to some of our flagship initiatives in Central Asia, such as the Border Management Staff College in Dushanbe or border management training in Turkmenistan. These are activities that benefit the entire region, including Afghanistan. Japan is also an important supporter of the OSCE’s engagement in Ukraine and has contributed both financial support and expertise to the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine,” noted Greminger.

“We remain committed to making this partnership beneficial for Japan by sharing our experiences and lessons learnt in dealing with regional security challenges and providing a platform for co-operation between Asia and Europe,” the OSCE Secretary General assured.

* Through ongoing dialogue and joint activities with the Asian Partners for Co-operation (Afghanistan, Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea and Thailand), the OSCE shares its expertise and provides insight into current developments. The Partners for Co-operation in Asia started to foster a flexible dialogue with the CSCE/OSCE in the early 1990s Japan's partnership started in 1992.