TOKYO: Slovenian Foreign Minister Anze Logar on Friday expressed his country’s support for Japan holding the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer as planned in defiance of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Logar revealed the stance at a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister MOTEGI Toshimitsu, held in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana after their meeting there earlier in the day.

Logar said he hopes that Slovenian athletes will win as many medals as possible at the Tokyo Games.

Showing his gratitude for the Slovenian support, Motegi said that Japan will work fully to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games safely and securely.

The Olympics is slated to take place between late July and early August, and the Paralympics from late August to early September. The events, originally scheduled for summer 2020, have been postponed by one year due to the spread of the coronavirus across the globe.

Slovenia is set to serve as the next chair of the European Union, which plans to draw up its Indo-Pacific strategy in September.

Motegi and Logar affirmed close cooperation on the vision of creating a free and open Indo-Pacific.

The Japanese minister expressed serious concern over China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

JIJI Press