Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was in Japan last month on an official visit, her first since February 2024. The visit gave her the opportunity to meet again with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, following a meeting at the G-20 Summit in South Africa last November. On the day she arrived in Tokyo, it also happened to be Meloni’s 50th birthday.
This year is the 160th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy, and arrangements for an official visit to Japan have been underway since the second half of last year. Prior to that, in 2023, the two countries’ leaders agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, and several projects have since been implemented through subsequent action plans. Meloni’s meeting with Takaichi should be understood in the context of recent developments in Japan-Italy relations and broader efforts to strengthen Japan-Europe relations.
The summit attracted attention not only in Japan and Italy but also across Asia, Europe, and the United States. This interest reflects the fact that Japan-Italy relations have taken on a significance goes beyond the bilateral political context to carry broader implications for Asia, Europe, and the global order.
One point of interest is that Meloni and Takaichi are the first women to serve as prime ministers in their respective countries, and that each head a conservative ruling party that enjoys strong support among male voters. Given that both Japan and Italy are often seen as lagging their peers in terms of women’s participation in public office, the summit had social as well as political resonance. At the time the two leaders met in January, Meloni, who won a general election in September 2022, was commanding a solid political base as leader of the Brothers of Italy, which holds a dominant position in Italian politics. Takaichi’s political foundation was less secure, although her bold decision to dissolve the Diet and call a general election earlier this month paid off handsomely, handing her the biggest electoral victory in Japanese postwar history. To the extent that Takaichi was using the summit with Meloni to bolster her political base, the tactic certainly worked.
Another factor drawing attention is the favorable relationships both Meloni and Takaichi enjoy with U.S. President Donald Trump. Among European leaders, Meloni is one of the few to have maintained a close relationship with the mercurial U.S president. Takaichi is also seeking to build a constructive relationship with Trump, and in that respect her strengthening of ties with Meloni particularly significant. Unlike Europe, which benefits from NATO, Japan must rely primarily on its bilateral relationship with the United States. Given the fluidity of U.S. security policies, securing international support, including from Italy, is essential to maintaining Japan’s voice in the Indo-Pacific region.
The third reason the summit attracted attention derives from expectations that it will help link the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regional security frameworks, thereby contributing to the stability of the global international order, including through enhanced economic cooperation.
The policy directions of the two leaders were set out in a joint op-ed published in the Nikkei on January 15, ahead of the summit. The article emphasized the importance of safeguarding a free, fair, and open international order and called for strengthening defense and security cooperation, including the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP), as well as enhancing security cooperation between the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic regions. As for a fair international order, the two leaders emphasized the need to ensure security in the fields of ethical science and technology and to counter unfair economic practices. The article also highlighted the need to promote industrial cooperation to address shared challenges, such as population aging, which both countries face. The emphasis on Japan-Italy industrial cooperation was further reflected in Meloni’s separate meetings with executives of Japanese companies.
A friendly atmosphere prevailed at the summit. In a joint statement released after the meeting, the leaders elaborated on the key points of the joint op-ed, and the relationship between Japan and Italy was redefined as a “Special Strategic Partnership.” This included calls for enhanced cooperation across a wide range of areas, including a focus on the Indo-Pacific, port calls by Italian naval vessels, defense equipment cooperation beyond GCAP, the strengthening of supply chains, and other aspects of economic security. The two countries also strongly opposed attempts to change the status quo by force in Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region. They criticized Russia and North Korea for threatening the rule of law and stability in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and, in more subtle terms, sought to signal restraint toward China’s posture. In this sense, the Japan-Italy summit can be seen as an opportunity to contribute to addressing challenges in an increasingly fluid – and increasingly tense – international order.
AloJapan.com