Abe has busy day, meeting 3 PMs in Slovakia; then talking trade with EU in Belgium

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia/BRUSSELS - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday asked the leaders of three Central European countries for help in a long dispute with North Korea over the abductions of Japanese citizens decades ago.

Abe said he has asked for "understanding and support" on an issue that is "very important" for Japan.

Japan says North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train agents in Japanese language and culture to spy on South Korea. Pyongyang has acknowledged abducting only 13 of them. The countries have no diplomatic relations.

Abe met the prime ministers of Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland and Hungary's finance minister. The countries form a group known as Visegrad Four.
In the afternoon, Abe flew to Brussels, where Japan and the European Union committed to fair and open trade and to respect rules-based international commerce in the face of what they see as increasing trade protectionism, particularly in the United States.

At the talks, Abe, EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker underlined their support for reforms at the World Trade Organization.

"The most important issue for the international community right now is to maintain the free-trade regime," Abe told reporters,

The Japanese leader is on a tour of Europe and North America to prepare to host a summit of the Group of 20 industrialized nations in Osaka in late June.

He said that a massive trade deal between Japan and the 28-nation bloc — which took effect in February and removes most of the 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) that EU companies pay in export duties to Japan — demonstrates their commitment "to maintain and develop the global free-trade regime against the global trends of protectionism."

"Restrictive measures are not in the interests of any country," said Abe, who was holding talks with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday. Trump has rolled back a number of trade agreements since he took office, and slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum from both Japan and the EU.

Juncker acknowledged that the world trade's governing body, the WTO, is in need of reform, but he said it remains "the best framework to guarantee the conditions for equal competition around the world."

Abe also shared his concerns with the Europeans that Britain might yet leave the EU without a divorce agreement, given the number of Japanese companies that set up shop in the UK because they saw it as a gateway to Europe.

"We welcome the fact that for the time being a no-deal Brexit is avoided," Abe said, and expressed hope that the Brexit process can proceed smoothly, with the EU and Britain "gathering their wisdom to overcome frustration."

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/politics/Abe-has-busy-day-meeting-3-PMs-in-Slovakia-then-talking-trade-with-EU-in-Belgium