EU foreign policy chief blasted by MEPs for not flying to Haiti

Brussels - The European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, claimed there was no immediate need for her to travel to earthquake-hit Haiti, as she fended off criticism from members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Tuesday. Several MEPs intervened in a debate in Strasbourg asking why Ashton did not visit the country while US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, was there on Saturday.

"I had nothing to contribute on the ground, other than to take up valuable airspace," Ashton answered.

"I am not a doctor, I am not a firefighter, my role is to bring together efforts," she insisted.

The EU's foreign policy director, faced with the international first crisis since she took up her duties in December, is scheduled to travel to the United States on Wednesday, where she is expected to meet Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

The EU's commissioner for humanitarian aid, Karel De Gucht, also took part in the debate. He urged parliament to be more generous in recognizing the efforts put in place by the EU's executive and by its member states.

De Gucht, who is due to arrive in Haiti on Thursday for a 2-day visit, claimed that MEPs did "not pay enough tribute to all the people who have been working since day one in Brussels and on the spot."

In an emergency meeting in Brussels on Monday, the EU pledged over 400 million euros (575 million dollars) in immediate and long-term aid, and "expressed a desire to contribute" to a paramilitary police force which the UN has informally requested to help restore order in the country.

Ashton "paid tribute" to the efforts of officials, national governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but recognized that "it should and it must get better and better, we should do more in the future to pull together."

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/304672,eu-foreign-policy-chief-blasted-by-meps-for-not-flying.html.