[Title] Joint Statement of the Prime Minister of of Japan Takaichi Sanae and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland Donald Tusk

On 15 April 2026 the Prime Minister of Japan, Takaichi Sanae, and Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, Donald Tusk, held a summit in Tokyo. Building on the Joint Statement between Poland and Japan “Building Framework for Strategic Partnership for Freedom, Growth and Solidarity”, both leaders acknowledged the substantial progress achieved since then. Today both leaders decided to launch a new phase of their strategic partnership in accordance with the 2025-2029 Action Plan and elevate the bilateral relations to the level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in light of the evolving and increasingly complex international security environment, as well as shared aspirations of both countries.

Global strategic and security environment

Both leaders reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to the rules-based international order, with the United Nations (UN) Charter at its core, as well as to free and fair trade and universal respect for human rights. They firmly opposed any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, or to take actions contrary to international law, in particular, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), whether in the Euro-Atlantic, the Indo-Pacific, or other regions of the world. Recognizing that security of the two regions is inseparable in today’s interconnected world, both leaders are determined to actively uphold and strengthen their engagement in relevant international and regional security organizations, close cooperation with like-minded partners, alliances with the United States, and continued development of their national defence capabilities.

Both leaders condemn Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, which represents a grave violation of international law and the principles of the UN Charter. They reaffirm their unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine in its struggle to defend its freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and express their readiness to cooperate closely in the efforts toward the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine in order to realize a just and lasting peace. They also express serious concern over the increasing military cooperation between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Russia, recognizing that it violates the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and negatively impacts security both in the Indo- Pacific and in Europe.

Acknowledging the cessation of attacks announced by the United States and Iran on April 8 as a positive development, the two leaders stressed the importance of achieving de-escalation, including the safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and expressed their hope that a final agreement will be reached promptly through diplomatic means. They reaffirmed their commitment to continue diplomatic efforts toward the peace and stability in the Middle East, in close cooperation with the international community.

Both leaders underscore the need for a free and open Indo-Pacific and strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, including in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. They reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan strait and, encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through constructive dialogue. Both leaders are deeply concerned about DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme. They also express their serious concerns over and the need to address together DPRK’s malicious cyber activities, including cryptocurrency thefts and its IT worker activities. They remain committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. They urge DPRK to resolve the abductions issue immediately.

In this context, both leaders welcomed that the bilateral consultation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Japan and the Ministry of National Defense of Poland is developing and both sides concurred on holding a Joint Foreign Affairs and Security Consultation in order to intensify a discussion. They also highlighted that the cooperation between the security authorities has been developed, including the cooperation for the support to Ukraine.

They further oppose actions by any actors seeking to undermine economic stability, social cohesion, and democratic processes through coordinated disinformation campaigns, state- sponsored propaganda, and cyberattacks. Japan and Poland remain committed to strengthening resilience against such hybrid threats, including critical infrastructure safety, through enhanced bilateral and multilateral cooperation with like-minded partners.

Both leaders reaffirmed their determination to enhance cooperation on economic resilience and economic security, including building resilient and reliable supply chains, responding to non-market policies and practices, and overcapacity resulting from them, addressing economic coercion, export restrictions, particularly on critical minerals, their derivatives, and dual-use items, and preventing leakage of critical and emerging technologies.

Both leaders also reaffirmed their determination to further strengthen the strategic partnership between Japan and the European Union, including on the basis of the 2024 Security and Defence Partnership. They recognized that Japan-Poland cooperation plays an important role in promoting sustainable economic growth, fostering cultural and scientific exchanges, and increasingly contributing to regional and global security. Both leaders confirmed the need to deepen cooperation between Japan and NATO, as well as similar cooperation between Europe and Indo-Pacific region, notably through meetings between foreign ministers and high-level representatives of Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom at the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2025.

Building on these shared principles, both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to deepen the Strategic Partnership between the two countries by translating their common values and security commitments into concrete cooperation across political, security, economic, technological, and social domains. Both leaders expressed their intention to advance joint initiatives laying groundwork for the next phase of the two countries’ strategic collaboration.

New phase of Japan-Poland relations: Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

The two sides will seek to reinforce their cooperation through high-level consultations that facilitate political dialogue, as well as security, trade, and investment cooperation among others. Their strategic partnership spans diverse sectors, including agriculture, food markets, defense and dual-use sectors, energy (nuclear, hydrogen, and ammonia), infrastructure, space (satellite programs, Earth observation, and space exploration) and research. Furthermore, both leaders have emphasized importance of promoting joint innovation in AI, biotechnology, and academic exchange to drive economic prosperity and address global challenges.

The bilateral economic relationship remains dynamic and multidimensional, as reflected in the active exchange of business missions. Japanese investments have been supporting key sectors of the Polish economy including automotive, infrastructure, energy, digitalization, pharmaceuticals, and food industry. Today, approximately 400 Japanese companies’ oversea branches operate in Poland and reinforce the country’s economic growth. Both leaders, while confirming the importance of ensuring the open, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environments, reaffirmed that the Japan-Poland Economic Consultations conducted by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan and the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology of Poland ought to further strengthen and diversify the economic relationship, including on agri-food business supported by both the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

Both leaders also decided to continue striving for cooperation on the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. This cooperation will be focused on the delivery of capacity-building assistance and will involve the business sector. Both sides highly value Japanese-Polish business cooperation in this regard, which they confirmed their intension to support.

The visit of the Polish Prime Minister to Japan has further strengthened the bilateral institutional framework. The following key agreement and documents were signed:

1. Social Security Agreement and its Administrative Arrangement,

2. Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in the field of Agriculture,

3. Joint Statement on POLSA-JAXA Potential Civil Space Cooperation.

Both leaders also welcomed the recently launched discussions on prospective negotiation of the security of information agreement. These initiatives are yet another example of the growing scope and vitality of this new, comprehensive phase of the Japan-Poland strategic partnership.