Speeches

Dear colleagues,

We all are aware of the terrible consequences of the tropical storm Nargis, which hit Burma/Myanmar last Saturday, a tragedy that killed over tens of thousands people, left hundreds of thousands homeless and destroyed infrastructures in the most populated area of the country.

It is an absolutely unprecedented disaster at the scale of the country and the full extent of the loss of lifes and damages is not yet known.

The military junta that rules the country has obviously failed to address the situation properly. Neither was prevention ensured, nor was relief provided swiftly enough to the population. The postponement of the constitutional referendum to 24 May in the areas of Rangoon and the Irrawaddy delta worst-hit by the cyclone is welcome but need to be extended to the whole country to demonstrate the Government's concern for its own population by concentrating on emergency humanitarian needs through a quick response.

The authorities have indicated that international assistance would be welcome. This should be seen as a positive move and we expect the Government to facilitate delivery of international aid. The European Union has already started carrying out emergency assistance operations, and during our next plenary session in Strasbourg we shall hear the European Commission's report on the humanitarian assistance which is provided, as well as on the conditions for delivering aid to the country.

The people in Burma/Myanmar deserve our deep solidarity; I therefore wish to express it here on behalf of the European Parliament and in all sincerity.

At the same time we think about our Sakharov Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi at this time. We are united with her in solidarity and demand her release so that she can work for freedom and democracy for her people.