No urgency for European EU-Fast?

(BRUSSELS2) "Terrifying"! This is how Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva described the situation in the Philippines after a two-day visit (November 16-17) to the region. “Even after seeing the images of destruction on television, it broke my heart to fly over the areas affected by the cyclone and in particular the town of Tablocan, razed by the force of the winds”. " It's terrible – she detailed to B2 – when you fly over the area, you see the track of the cyclone. There are not a few trees uprooted but hundreds. This gives an idea of the force of the wind and the destruction. » However, she wanted to be optimistic. “Little by little, help is getting organized and arriving. The problem today is that the airport is starting to get crowded. »
Congratulations to B-Fast
The Commissioner wished to welcome the reaction " fast, generous and coordinated » European countries (102 million euros committed) and in particular the Belgian B-Fast (*). “B-Fast was the first structure on the ground (…) We are very proud of it” she insisted. According to her, the B-Fast team is even at the heart of the European civil protection system: “ Europe is concentrating its efforts to be able to mobilize our civil protection capacity very quickly and use it very quickly, also using the military transport planes provided by B-Fast to access difficult areas.”
B-Fast not alone
Other European teams have been mobilized. “We now have civil protection teams mobilized by the member states and the EU in many places. For example, “en addition to B-fast, we have a Spanish team on Samar, another island devastated by the Cyclone. We also have a German sanitation team operating at Batavia ». Note that the United Kingdom sent military resources (two ships and several planes) as well as Sweden (3 planes).
A European EU-Fast?
Should we go further and create a single coordination structure like B-Fast? B2 asked the Commissioner the question. But Kristalina Georgieva is quite reserved. The European system is based on two types of means. Those deployed by Member States. And the important thing is then coordination. “We have to make sure that we are well coordinated at the same time”. But the financial instrument should not be underestimated. The release of funds for international organizations is also important. “We cannot underestimate the funding provided to international organizations like the Red Cross, UNICEF and WWF. The deployment capacity of these NGOs at the local level is extremely important. » As for the deployment of military equipment, “often useful when you are in a completely destroyed area, (he remains) a competence of the Member States”.
In other words, everyone has their place…
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde with Loreline Merelle)
(*) Launched in 1999 by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the B-Fast mission (Belgian First Aid & Support Team) is a rapid coordination structure in the event of disasters, chaired by an interdepartmental coordination council (Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interior, Health and Development Cooperation). In the Philippines, the mission was launched on 10 November and consisted of 37 people. Two modules were deployed on site: a field hospital and a water purification station. Limited to 10 days, the mission returned to Belgium this weekend, leaving the emergency facilities set up in the hands of a German NGO and the Philippine government. The question of extending the mission arose during a "kern" convened on Monday afternoon in Brussels. However, Belgian officials considered that given the large-scale deployment of aid involved, it was not necessary to send back a second team.
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