Image source: topwar.ru
Japan is not considering joining the North Atlantic Alliance. However, the issue of opening a NATO representative office in the country is being discussed. This statement was made by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, his words are quoted by the Reuters news agency.
As the head of the Japanese government noted, the discussion on the opening of a NATO office in the country continues. But the final decision of the country's leadership has not yet been made. Earlier, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi also announced that negotiations were underway to open a representative office of the alliance.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, in an interview with CNN, said that one of the factors that prompted Tokyo to intensify cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance were the events in Ukraine and the decline in the level of stability in the modern world.
However, earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that there are no plans to join the alliance of Asian states. But NATO is already increasing cooperation with Japan. The United States is interested in creating a kind of analogue of NATO from its satellites in Asia, which would become a reliable help for Washington in the upcoming confrontation with China.
At the same time, Japan's open entry into the North Atlantic Alliance would be an additional irritating factor for China and would force both China, the DPRK, and Russia to increase their military potential in the Pacific region. Of course, Tokyo also cannot ignore this issue when discussing the prospects of membership in the alliance.
