Fuente: © European Parliament
http://www.europarl.eu.int/

EU: Opening of the Brussels May plenary session: Pöttering expresses solidarity with Burma/Myanmar

/noticias.info/ At the start of today's plenary session, EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering made a statement on the devastation caused by the cyclone in Burma/Myanmar. President Pöttering said: "We all are aware of the terrible consequences of the tropical storm, which hit Burma/Myanmar last Sunday, 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.

The military junta that rules the country has obviously worsened the situation by acting improperly. Neither was prevention ensured, nor was relief provided swiftly enough to the population. Moreover, it was decided to hold the "constitutional referendum" on 10 May as scheduled, displaying therewith a lack of concern and legitimacy.

However, the fact that help from abroad was not opposed as in the case of the tsunami catastrophe in 2006 should be seen as a positive move. The European Union has already started carrying out its emergency assistance operations, and during our next plenary session in Strasbourg we shall hear the European Commission 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."

Agenda changes

The House approved the following changes to the rules:
- Statements by the Council and Commission on Georgia with resolution in June Strasbourg
- Oral question on misleading directory companies removed from the agenda because the Council was unable to be present
The votes on the Lehne and Virrankoski reports to be postponed to the next Strasbourg plenary. notas_de_prensa_archivo