Meeting between State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Yutaka Banno and Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Response

March 25, 2011
Japanese

Today (Friday, March 25), Yutaka Banno, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid & Crisis Response, who had arrived in Japan the same day.
Commissioner Georgieva expressed condolence and sympathy with regard to the suffering caused by the Tohoku - Pacific Ocean Earthquake, and stated that the European Union would provide any assistance possible upon requests of the Japanese Government. Commissioner Georgieva also explained that the E U had delivered the first installment of relief supplies, and that the EU would be donating 10 million Euros to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
State Secretary Banno expressed gratitude for the heartfelt words of condolence and sympathy and announcement of assistance from the EU.
Commissioner Georgieva expressed her confidence in Japan’s recovery, and also stated that the EU would like to learn from the earthquake countermeasures that Japan would no doubt be improving and implementing in the future. State Secretary Banno explained the current situation regarding the earthquake, and stated that Japan would be sharing the lessons learned from the earthquake with the rest of the world, expressing his will to further promote the cooperation in the field of disaster prevention in the Japan – EU relations.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

(END)