EU pledges €100m to tsunami relief

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today the European Union will donate €100m for immediate tsunami relief and look at setting up a €1bn loan for affected nations.

Barroso said he also would ask the European Parliament to approve another €350m in aid for longer term reconstruction of countries devastated by the December 26 disaster.

“I think the European Parliament is ready to be very generous,” he said on the sidelines of the international donor summit in Jakarta.

The loan would be on “very favourable terms” and administered by the European Development Bank and other international banks, he said.