The raging war in Ukraine and heightened tensions in the Asia-Pacific show that the growing momentum in German-Japanese security cooperation needs to be sustained, the chair of the German parliament's defense committee said Wednesday during a two-day visit to Tokyo.
Arguing that the security of Europe is inseparable from that of the Indo-Pacific, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “is not just a European issue but one that affects the entire world,” warning that democracies around the world cannot afford to be complacent amid the growing threats posed to the international “rules-based order.”
“Nations with liberal and democratic values need to work together to tackle these challenges,” she said, noting that the international community needs to pay closer attention to the often-belligerent rhetoric coming from places such as China and North Korea, particularly as they forge closer relations.