Yomiuri reported that coordination is underway for Prime Minister Abe to take part in the NATO summit to be held in Brussels on July 11-12 as part of his European and Middle East tour in the summer, noting that this will be the first time for a Japanese premier to attend a leaders’ meeting of the trans-Atlantic security partnership. Abe will likely give a speech calling call for European support on such issues as North Korea’s denuclearization and maritime security, with China’s acceleration of its maritime push in mind.