Italy-Japan, Meloni to Takaichi: “We strongly believe in our alliance”

Tokyo (Japan), Jan 16 (LaPresse) – “I am extremely happy to be here after our brief meeting in Johannesburg and our phone discussions. This is the third time I have come to Japan in the three years I have been in government, and it was not by chance, it was a choice.” This is what Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said, opening the bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the Kantei in Tokyo. “The first time I came here,” recalls the Palazzo Chigi occupant, “we elevated our relations to the level of a strategic partnership. The second time I was here, during the G7 in Hiroshima, we took the opportunity to discuss a 2024-2027 three-year action plan to set clear, defined objectives with deadlines, which we have respected. I am here for the third time; I am the first European leader to come here since she took office, and we are taking the opportunity to once again elevate our bilateral relations to the level of a special strategic partnership.” “The message is that we strongly believe in this alliance, we strongly believe in this cooperation, we strongly believe in this friendship,” Meloni emphasizes, also noting that the bilateral meeting is taking place on the “160th anniversary of our bilateral relations, which also shows how deep, lasting, and continuous our bilateral relations have been.”