ZAGREB, 19 Sept – PM Andrej Plenković said on Friday that Croatia and Japan hold identical positions in condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel, as well as in supporting efforts to prevent further civilian casualties in Gaza, achieve a ceasefire and work towards a two-state solution.
“The positions of the Croatian and Japanese governments are practically identical in condemning Russia’s war of aggression and Hamas’s attack on Israel,” Prime Minister Plenković told the media after delivering a lecture at Tokyio’s Keio University on Japan –EU relations.
Plenković added that both sides agree on the need to prevent additional civilian casualties in Gaza and to create conditions for a ceasefire and peace agreement that would lead to “what has been our consistent policy “a two-state solution.”
Earlier on Friday, Plenković met his Japanese counterpart Shigeru Ishiba, who reiterated Japan’s clear support for Ukraine.
The Croatian prime minister said Japan is concerned about the length of Russia’s aggression and its security implications for the region.
“These events cannot be viewed in isolation. I said in my lecture as well: if this brutal Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has taken hundreds of thousands of lives, were to end with territorial concessions, it would send a green light that today it is Ukraine and tomorrow it will surely be someone else,” Plenković warned.
He stressed that Japan shares the same logic in viewing this crisis as it does with the war between Israel and Hamas.
“They too are part of the international community sending very strong messages to Israel to stop civilian casualties and military operations that endanger civilians, children and women in Gaza. They want a ceasefire as soon as possible and a comprehensive peace solution,” he said.
“Listening to him was like listening to myself two weeks ago when I spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar,” Plenković remarked about Ishiba.
Plenković is on an official visit to Japan from Friday to Sunday, during which he will attend the celebration of Croatia’s national day at Expo 2025 in Osaka on Sunday.
He is accompanied by Economy Minister Ante Šušnjar, Tourism and Sport Minister Tonči Glavina, and State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and National Commissioner for Expo 2025 Zdenko Lucić.
Expo 2025 Osaka is taking place from April to October under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives” on the artificial island of Yumeshima, built specially for the event.
