Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has emphasized the outcome of his recent trips to the United States and Germany, but it is unclear whether his efforts on the diplomatic front can help bolster his flagging administration ahead of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s leadership election expected for September.
"The security in the Euro-Atlantic region and that in the Indo-Pacific region are becoming more and more inseparable, and I felt this recognition is steadily spreading in Europe," Kishida told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Friday, held after their meeting in the German capital the same day, highlighting his successful efforts to direct Europe's attention to Asia at a time when the global security environment is said to be the toughest since the end of World War II.
Before the Japan-Germany summit, Kishida was present at a NATO summit in Washington, joining a leaders' meeting of the military alliance for the third straight year.