Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaiichi is expected to skip the NATO summit scheduled for next month in Turkey.
According to multiple Japanese government officials cited by Kyodo News and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun on June 23, Takaiichi is coordinating her schedule to avoid attending the NATO summit, which will take place in Ankara on July 7-8, due to parliamentary commitments. The Japanese government is considering sending Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in her place.
Initially, Takaiichi had been reviewing her attendance at the NATO summit, anticipating participation from figures such as former U.S. President Donald Trump. However, she is currently arranging a visit to India in early July to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and upon her return, she is expected to participate in a Diet committee meeting and a party leader debate, making her attendance at the summit unlikely.
Japan, like South Korea, has been invited to the NATO summit as a member of the four Indo-Pacific partners (IP4) that NATO seeks to strengthen cooperation with. Key topics at the summit are expected to include the situation in the Middle East and responses to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Japan has been enhancing military cooperation with North Korea and China, asserting that “the security of the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic is indivisible.” This stance has led to increased collaboration with NATO.
If Takaiichi does not attend, it will mark the second consecutive year that a Japanese prime minister has missed the NATO summit. Former Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also planned to attend last year's summit but canceled shortly before departure due to escalating tensions in the Middle East following a U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, as well as the absence of leaders from South Korea and Australia.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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