Paris refuses to approve scheme to open NATO liaison office in Japan
(MENAFN) Based on an Elysee Palace representative quoted by a news agency, Paris has rejected an arrangement to open a NATO connection office in Japan, debating that the bloc should not outspread itself past the North Atlantic.
“NATO means North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” the representative informed reporters on Friday, cautioning against distorting the lines as well as stressing that even the exaggerated Article 5 of the bloc’s treaty precisely indicates preserving the “security of the North Atlantic area.”
Two months ago, Japanese Ambassador said to the United States Koji Tomita stated that Japan was “working” towards opening a NATO connection office in Tokyo, which is going to be the bloc’s first in Asia.
The arrangement has been debated sporadically since 2007, when Japan’s then-Premier Shinzo Abe first went to NATO’s head office, and was elevated once more in new months.
“We are not in favor as a matter of principle,” the French representative also noted. “As far as the office is concerned, the Japanese authorities themselves have told us that they are not extremely attached to it.”
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