Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-03-11-Speech-4-086"
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"en.20100311.5.4-086"2
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"Mr President, first of all, on behalf of the delegation within the EU-Chile Joint Parliamentary Committee, I would like to express our solidarity with the Chilean people, Parliament and Government following the disastrous earthquake that occurred on 27 February and the more than two hundred aftershocks that have taken place so far.
At least 500 people, including two Europeans, have been killed and 2 million Chileans have been affected by the earthquakes. The Mapuche people have been the worst affected, for their lands lie in three of the four southern regions of the country.
I would also like to express our gratitude to all the people who have worked selflessly and to all the professionals who assisted the victims. The Chilean people have shown themselves to be capable of meeting the challenges of a very complex situation. I would like to congratulate President Bachelet for the immediate relief effort her Government launched in order to contain the situation caused by the terrible earthquake that has destroyed housing and infrastructure.
The Chilean Government acted quickly and showed seriousness and responsibility in identifying the specific areas in which support was needed; there has also been a show of solidarity from the international community, which is a testament to Chile’s excellent relations with its neighbours and strategic partners.
I also wish to congratulate Sebastián Piñera’s new Government which takes office today, and to encourage him in the reconstruction efforts for which I hope he will be able to count on the European Union’s full support.
Chile, as well as being a friend and partner of the European Union, is a developed country and member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development; even so, the cost of the reconstruction effort will be considerable: it is estimated that this will be as high as USD 20 million, which represents 15% of the Chilean GDP. For this reason, I call on the European Union to make every tool available to the Chilean authorities in order to help with the task of reconstruction. Chile is going to need international loans, and the European Investment Bank, with which Chile has just signed an agreement, should help with the financing of the reconstruction projects.
The European Union, under the Spanish Presidency, has established a mechanism for coordinating aid with the United Nations, and a post-disaster task force; the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response is also expected to arrive on the ground in the next few days. We hope that the Commission, without overlooking other equally urgent commitments such as the situation in Haiti, will also rise to meet the Chilean people’s expectations."@en1
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