The EU’s Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Karel De Gucht, will arrive in Haiti on 21 January for a 24-hour visit. He will assess the best way for the Union to spend its contribution of 422 million euro as the earthquake-hit country prepares to move from a phase of urgent response to reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Catherine Ashton, high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, was, meanwhile, criticised at the European Parliament for not visiting Port-au-Prince herself soon after the disaster. But she has said she did so at the United Nations’ request in order to leave the limited resources of the capital’s airport for urgent aid flights. Anticipating this controversy, Ashton said at the announcement of the aid package, on 18 January, that the first priority was “swift action”. De Gucht’s visit, nine days after the 12 January earthquake, would nonetheless “send a signal that we are there and committed as the EU,” she added.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Port-au-Prince on 16 January for meetings and to show solidarity with the victims, and has herself been criticised for temporarily disrupting the airport’s humanitarian operation.