Europa y la catástrofe
J.P. Quiñonero, ABC
January 16 2010

The European Union’s deafening silence over the Haiti disaster has been plain for the international community to hear. It lays bare the poverty of our bureaucratic mechanisms and the European leaders’ starting lack of imagination, sensitivity and initiative. No-one has heard a murmur from President Van Rompuy, or Zapatero, president of the moment, or indeed from the Commission. No doubt the letter of Lisbon allows Europe to retreat into silence. But Obama and Unesco were quick to rally, and it only took twenty-four hours for Nicolas Sarkozy to propose an international conference of donors. Our even more invisible Lady Ashton will be chairing an emergency council on Monday to begin roughing out an EU aid strategy. Certainly, such bureaucratic behaviour shows up a painful lack of initiative on the part of our dual presidency – unseen, unheard.