Brussels, 21/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign affairs ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday 21 March took stock of the latest developments in Japan and repeated their solidarity with the victims of the earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear alert. Following the meeting, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton said that, after Japan's request, on 15 March, for humanitarian assistance, the EU was currently preparing its response in coordination with the Japanese authorities.
By Friday 18 March, an air bridge had been established and 15 civil protection experts, logistics and nuclear decontamination specialists had left for Japan to organise aid in cooperation with local partners, in particular the Japanese Red Cross.
“These experts are preparing an international hub to receive assistance and dispatch it to other regional platforms. Nine member states have already offered 100,000 blankets, 11,000 jerrycans, 1,300 beds, water pumps, sleeping bags, and power generators”, Raphaël Brigandi, spokesman for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis response Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told the press. (A.N./transl.rt)