Welcome text by Ambassador of Japan Shigeki Sumi on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Japan recognising Ukraine as an independent state
28/12/2016
Today, 28 December, Japan recognised the independence of Ukraine and, accordingly, recognised it as a state. I am genuinely happy with the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Japan over these 25 years. Especially so in the last three years after the events on Maidan (Revolution of Dignity), relations between Ukraine and Japan have been developing strongly.
For the first time in the history of diplomatic relations between our countries, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Ukraine in 2015, while Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko paid a visit to Japan in 2016, as a result of which visits by other high-ranking officials of both countries were stepped up.
Furthermore, taking into consideration the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and the situation in Donbas, Japan, in accordance with the principle of non-recognition of changes in the status quo through the use of force, became the only country in Asia to introduce sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Furthermore, Japan recently supported the UN resolution on the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and in the city of Sevastopol, as a co-sponsor. In addition, aspiring to control the situation in Crimea and Donbas, Japan is focusing its efforts on providing assistance through international organizations to internally displaced persons and to reconstruct the Donbas region. And even though Japan is not a member of the OSCE, it still makes a financial contribution to the organization and sends a personnel to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine. An important priority for Japan is providing support for the implementation of reforms in Ukraine in areas such as finance, health care, fighting corruption and develop stable democracy.
Japan was president of G7 in 2016. The G7 Ukraine Support Group was established in 2015 and, I, as the head of the group this year, summed up the thoughts and views of ambassadors of G7 states; the Group held meetings with the President of Ukraine, Prime Minister, high-ranking officials and civil society representatives. Also, with the aim of supporting the holding of reforms in Ukraine, we issued a large number of joint statements from ambassadors of G7 states. Japan, as a member of G7, will continue to support Ukraine in future in its implementation of reforms.
In addition, thanks to cultural exchange between our countries, we will make efforts to deepen mutual understanding between our peoples. The coming year of 2017 has been declared «Year of Japan in Ukraine». As the holding of many events in all corners of Ukraine are planned, I sincerely hope that you will get to feel Japan close up and to enjoy Japanese culture.
For the first time in the history of diplomatic relations between our countries, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Ukraine in 2015, while Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko paid a visit to Japan in 2016, as a result of which visits by other high-ranking officials of both countries were stepped up.
Furthermore, taking into consideration the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and the situation in Donbas, Japan, in accordance with the principle of non-recognition of changes in the status quo through the use of force, became the only country in Asia to introduce sanctions against the Russian Federation.
Furthermore, Japan recently supported the UN resolution on the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and in the city of Sevastopol, as a co-sponsor. In addition, aspiring to control the situation in Crimea and Donbas, Japan is focusing its efforts on providing assistance through international organizations to internally displaced persons and to reconstruct the Donbas region. And even though Japan is not a member of the OSCE, it still makes a financial contribution to the organization and sends a personnel to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine. An important priority for Japan is providing support for the implementation of reforms in Ukraine in areas such as finance, health care, fighting corruption and develop stable democracy.
Japan was president of G7 in 2016. The G7 Ukraine Support Group was established in 2015 and, I, as the head of the group this year, summed up the thoughts and views of ambassadors of G7 states; the Group held meetings with the President of Ukraine, Prime Minister, high-ranking officials and civil society representatives. Also, with the aim of supporting the holding of reforms in Ukraine, we issued a large number of joint statements from ambassadors of G7 states. Japan, as a member of G7, will continue to support Ukraine in future in its implementation of reforms.
In addition, thanks to cultural exchange between our countries, we will make efforts to deepen mutual understanding between our peoples. The coming year of 2017 has been declared «Year of Japan in Ukraine». As the holding of many events in all corners of Ukraine are planned, I sincerely hope that you will get to feel Japan close up and to enjoy Japanese culture.