In the 21st century, Europe has been experiencing a series of events that have brought chaos – the Euro crisis in 2010, Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, the UK's withdrawal from the EU in 2020, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine since 2022 – and become interlocked and compounded with one another. Meanwhile, Europe is an essential partner for Japan in upholding liberal democracy and multilateralism. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement and Strategic Partnership Agreement, both of which entered into force in February 2019, were strong statements of such normative ties. However, as the competition for hegemony between the United States and China intensifies and "Ukraine today could be East Asia tomorrow," how should Europe and Japan cooperate? JIIA has been working with domestic and foreign experts in examining the situation and making recommendations to deepen our intrinsic understanding of the European situation and to make use of this understanding for the future development of Japan-Europe relations.
