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The President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek has sent his condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti on Tuesday evening. The President appealed for European emergency aid to be deployed as soon as possible.

A 7.0-magnitude quake hit south of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince killing hundreds.

EP President Jerzy Buzek said: "Our thoughts and hearts are with the victims, government and the people of this region who have lost their loved ones, homes and possessions in this huge natural disaster."

"This is one of the worst natural disasters to happen in two centuries on this island. We offer our condolences and solidarity to the families of the victims and the Haitian population as a whole. We wish that all those who were injured a full and speedy recovery. Europe will be at the side of the Haitians to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and help to rebuild its economy and society."

Haiti is one of the world's poorest countries, and has already suffered greatly several times in recent years from major hurricane damage. Haiti is also an ACP country and, as such, is one of our partners under the Cotonou Partnership Agreement.

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For further information:

Inga Rosińska, Spokeswoman
Mobile: +32 498 981 354

Delia Vlase, Press Officer
GSM: +32 476 331 038

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