EU holds snap talks on Asia tsunami disaster
EU holds snap talks on Asia tsunami disaster
Michael Thurston, Agence France-Presse/Brussels
European Union (EU) foreign ministers were gathering for hastily- arranged talks on further ways of helping disaster-hit south Asia on Friday, a day after Europe boosted aid pledges to some 1.5 billion euros (US$2 billion).
Proposals being considered include debt relief for the afflicted countries, support for a tsunami alert system for the Indian Ocean region, and a "rapid response" humanitarian force for future catastrophes.
According to draft conclusions of the three-hour meeting the ministers were to underline the "leading role" of the United Nations in coordinating aid, as well as voicing solidarity after what they called the unprecedented disaster.
Ahead of the talks, the 25-member bloc's current Luxembourg presidency trumpeted a pledge for a further 450-million-euro package of aid announced by EU commission head Jose Manuel Barroso at a donors' summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
The new EU money adds to pledges by individual countries -- notably 500 million euros by Germany, following the tragedy which left over 146,000 people dead including hundreds, possibly thousands, of European tourists.
In Jakarta Barroso, head of the EU's executive arm, also proposed a billion-euro "Indian Ocean Tsunami Lending Facility" to be managed by the European Investment Bank.
EU aid commissioner Louis Michel will notably brief the Brussels meeting -- which will gather EU aid and health ministers, as well as foreign ministers -- on his meetings in the region over the last week.
The EU's presidency says the main aim is to coordinate ideas ahead of a UN-hosted donors' conference in Geneva next week.
The EU commission said such ideas could include debt relief, and a German initiative to twin countries and even schools in Europe and the region, to help long-term reconstruction.
They also include plans for a rapid response force for future disasters. EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero- Waldner suggested earlier this week that this could take the form of a 5,000-strong "crisis management corps".
But diplomats said this initiative had mixed support among EU governments, with the focus more on a "rapid response" aid force, possibly involving a number of countries coordinating national forces in case of a future disaster.
"There are a number of ideas which have been floated. It is important to... make sure that the response we make, the proposals we bring forward, are the right ones," said EU commission spokeswoman Francoise Le Bail.
According to French-language draft conclusions, the EU ministers were also to stress the need for governments of afflicted countries to continue to play their part in helping their own citizens.
The EU also warned that long-running conflicts with rebels in both Sri Lanka and Indonesia's Aceh province should not be allowed to hinder the relief efforts.
"The council (of EU ministers)... launched an appeal so that aid can be delivered rapidly to all populations concerned, independent of the internal conflicts in some of the countries affected," they said.
Several of those at Friday's Brussels talks were either returning from or heading to the disaster-hit region. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer is due to leave for Thailand directly after the talks.
Participants also included David Nabarro, the top official at the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) dealing with humanitarian crises, and UNICEF head Carol Bellamy.
Britain's Jack Straw was absent as he is currently in the region. Europe Minister Denis MacShane represented the London government.