Japan protested to Russia over the cancellation of the agreement on visa-free visits to the Kuril Islands
[ad_1]
The Japanese government sent a “strong protest” to Russia after it terminated the agreement on facilitated visits to the Kuril Islands by Japanese citizens who used to live on these islands, as well as on a visa-free regime for all Japanese, said the Secretary General of the Japanese Cabinet Hirokazu Matsuno, transmits NHK.
“This is extremely unfair and completely unacceptable. So far, no notifications have been received from the Russian side, but today I once again expressed my strong protest to the Russian side,” he said.
According to him, it is Russia that is responsible for the current state of Japanese-Russian relations, but Japan is unable to prevent it from taking measures to visit the Kuriles.
The day before, on September 5, Russia decided to denounce the agreement on a simplified visit to the Kuril Islands for Japanese citizens who used to live on these islands, and on a visa-free regime for all Japanese in connection with the “unfriendly actions” of Japan. Back in March, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced a withdrawal from these agreements in response to the sanctions imposed by Japan after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine.
On June 7, 2022, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, announced that Russia was suspending the implementation of the intergovernmental agreement with Japan on cooperation in the field of harvesting marine living resources from 1998. This agreement allowed Japanese fishing vessels to fish living resources in a sea area limited by direct geodetic lines connecting successively points with coordinates near the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai.
A simplified regime for visiting the Kuriles was established by two agreements – on visa-free exchanges between the southern Kuril Islands of Russia and Japan (signed in 1991) and on a simplified procedure for visiting the Southern Kuriles for Japanese citizens who previously lived in these territories (in 1999).
The Southern Kuriles became part of the USSR and then Russia after the end of World War II. Now Japan continues to claim the islands, because their status remains controversial. Because of this territorial dispute, Moscow and Tokyo have not yet concluded a peace treaty following the results of World War II.
Subscribe on “Vedomosti” in Telegram and stay up to date with the main news of the economy and business
[ad_2]
Source link
