Today's Date:

EARTHQUAKE/SOUTH ASIA

THE MINISTER – In the face of this dreadful disaster, we immediately sent two teams on Saturday night: a 20-strong sécurité civile [emergency services] team with dogs and specialized equipment to search for survivors, and five people to assess the damage with the Pakistani authorities.

The question faced today, which for us is an absolutely major one, concerns the emergency response. This morning, liaising with the Health and Defence Ministries, we sent 70 SAMU (Service d’assistance médicale d’urgence) [mobile emergency medical service] doctors by Airbus, and medical equipment, including a field hospital, in a C135 plane which took off from Istres.

Another plane will be leaving, again in agreement with the Pakistani authorities, carrying a cargo made up of 20 tonnes of Red Cross humanitarian supplies and 20 tonnes of Foreign Ministry humanitarian supplies.

THE MINISTER – Regrettably we haven’t got much equipment – indeed, as you know, we have men in a multinational force – in Afghanistan, there’s also some American equipment which will already be going there.

Today there are two extremely important problems: firstly that of food and medicines, particularly for typhoid, and secondly that of emergency medical aid.

In particular, there’s a need for emergency surgeons.

As you know, there can be crash syndromes, i.e. bits of roofs or walls which have fallen on the limbs of children and adults, who require emergency operations. So we’ve also sent surgical equipment and emergency doctors.

I’d like to say a word on this, since Xavier Bertrand, the Health Minister, and I have been working very hard on it for 48 hours. Some French SAMU teams spontaneously and voluntarily asked to go there. So a plane left this morning, another will leave this evening, it will contain a load of blankets, medicines and tents.

GERMANY/ANGELA MERKEL

THE MINISTER – I am delighted that Germany is ending this period of uncertainty.

Germany is our great neighbour, our friend and the development taking shape now was indeed being confirmed in the past few days. We have a lot of work to do together, I have known Angela Merkel for a long time, we have campaigned in the same parties for around 15 years. As you know, France is Germany’s closest neighbour, and Europe can’t be built without perfect collaboration between France and Germany. I am convinced that Angela Merkel will carry on the work of the chancellors preceding her. (…)./.