Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, attends the funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe (Tokyo, 27.09.2022)

Today Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis represented the Greek government and Prime Minister at the funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

As head of the Greek delegation, Mr. Varvitsiotis attended the ceremony, which was held in the presence of thousands of guests from Japan and abroad at Tokyo's Budokan Stadium, where he laid flowers at an altar with a photograph of the deceased. Following that, he went to Akasaka Palace for the official greeting ceremony, where he personally expressed his condolences to the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, and the deceased's widow, Akie Abe.

In a statement following the ceremony, the Alternate Minister said that Shinzo Abe was an important political figure in Japan who opened his country to new political alliances and played a leading role in political affairs for a long time, being one of Japan’s longest-serving Prime Ministers.

Mr. Varvitsiotis stated that Greece and Japan "share the same values and respect International Law, particularly the Law of the Sea," emphasizing the Greek government's desire to deepen bilateral relations with Japan and expand economic relations beyond shipping. The Alternate Minister specifically mentioned the expansion of relations in the financial sector, digital technology, tourism, agri-food products and new technologies.

During his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Mr. Varvitsiotis invited him to visit Greece at the earliest opportunity and conveyed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ desire to visit Japan.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, Mr. Varvitsiotis met briefly with ministers and officials from other countries, who were also invited to the ceremony.

Tomorrow, on the last day of his visit to Japan, Mr. Varvitsiotis will have meetings with his Japanese counterpart, Kenji Yamada, the State Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Toshiro Toyoda, and the Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Japanese National Diet, Minoru Kiuchi.