mr president in recent days there have been a number of complaints about the ineffectiveness and slowness of the response to the haitian crisis
many point to the increasing insecurity the growing despair among those who survived the quake and the appalling lack of food and clothing
it is true that these problems exist and we need to solve them as soon as possible
however we should applaud the engagement of various international actors ranging from governments to civil society organisations and to individuals worldwide
the european union is certainly among those who have expressed their wholehearted solidarity with the haitian people
again many have criticised the supposedly slow reaction of the eu to the crisis even today but the eu is not only about decisions made in brussels
national governments have already sent thousands of men and women to help the haitians and have allocated millions of euros in aid
the role of the eu should be concentrated more on medium- and long-term aid and aimed at the reconstruction of haitian towns and villages of their infrastructure schools and hospitals
the eu can certainly be the forum the umbrella under which europe's medium- and long-term aid can be distributed and coordinated
the pledge recently made by the commission and the member states to earmark almost eur five hundred million is certainly a big and significant step in this direction and we should all stand behind it
