Japan PM heads to Europe in the midst of North Korea tensions

Tokyo, Jan 12 (AFP) Japan's PM today made a beeline for the Baltic states and other European countries as he tries to scrounge up help for his hawkish position on North Korea.

In spite of a current cooling of strains in the run-up to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, Shinzo Abe has demanded "augmenting weight" on Pyongyang over its atomic and rocket programs.

Abe will visit Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, the principal sitting Japanese pioneer to visit those countries.

"I need to affirm our collaboration on North Korean and other dire issues the universal group faces," he told journalists before he exited.

Abe, who will meet the leaders of the six states on his visit, likewise noticed that delegates from more than 30 organizations would go with him to create business ties.

Japan is quick to bring its profile up in the district as China reinforces its ties there.

Every one of the six countries Abe is going by are among the 16 Central and Eastern European nations that hold a yearly summit meeting with China.

China has been pushing its enormous 1 trillion "One Belt, One Road" activity, which tries to manufacture rail, oceanic and street joins from Asia to Europe and Africa in a recovery of antiquated Silk Road exchanging courses.

Abe is because of profit to Japan for Wednesday.