From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue May 19 2009 - 08:01:09 EDT
May 18, 2009 EU Nations "Lack Sense Of History" Over Aid Failure-Aid Chief
BRUSSELS (AFP)--Europe's outgoing humanitarian aid chief Louis Michel on
Tuesday blamed a "lack of a sense of history" among European Union nations
for governments balking at fulfilling their promises to the world's poorest.
"I am always disappointed because things don't go far enough for me. I think
there is a kind of natural and spontaneous reluctance of some member states
to deliver their own commitments," he told reporters as he arrived for a
meeting of E.U. development ministers. "I really don't know why there is a
fundamental lack of a sense of history.
"A sense of history tells us to help them [aid recipient countries], and to
help them massively, because the main beneficiaries of this aid will not be
them but us," said Michel.
The Belgian politician was taking part in his last such meeting before
quitting the European Commission to take part in the European parliament
election campaign.
E.U. development ministers were meeting in Brussels Monday and Tuesday to
reaffirm their aid commitments despite the economic crisis, reiterating
their goal of development aid reaching 0.7% of total GDP by 2015.
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