Haiti marks fifth earthquake anniversary

Haiti has marked the fifth anniversary of the massive earthquake that devastated an already impoverished nation, as officials struggle to resolve a political standoff that has stalled elections for three years.

Five years after the unprecedented category seven quake killed at least 300,000 people and left more that a million homeless, the nation paused for a "Day of Reflection and Commemoration" on Tuesday.

President Michel Martelly led the official tributes, calling for unity to better prepare Haiti for its next challenge.

Laying flowers at a monument in Place St Christophe in the still damaged capital, he paid tribute to the sacrifice of Haitian and foreign rescuers who flocked to Port-au-Prince in 2010.

"Five years later, are we ready to face other catastrophes that could strike Haiti?" he asked.

Haiti's most immediate challenge is not another natural disaster, however, but institutional breakdown combined with persistent poverty.

As of Monday, parliament's mandate ended with no date set for a new election, raising the prospect that Martelly might be left ruling by decree like the country's former dictators.

A last-minute accord signed on Sunday to resolve the institutional impasse was not ratified by parliament before its authority expired, creating a political and institutional vacuum.

Martelly's supporters have blamed the opposition for failing to pass an electoral law that would allow voting, but his opponents accuse him of provoking a stalemate in order to rule alone.
aljazeera.com
13/1/15
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• Statement of the High Representative and Vice President Federica Mogherini on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti ...

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Romania warns of independent energy policy after Nabucco failure

By Daniel Stroe – Bucharest
- The Romanian President Traian Basescu today pointed out he had informed the European Council that Romania will redefine its energy policy based on its own resources and without awaiting anybody’s approval, two days after the failure of the EU-backed Nabucco project which Romania was part of.

Basescu made these statements in a press conference at the end of the European Council in Brussels. “Without going into details, the option now without any doubt is Romania being forced to accelerate the evaluation process and move to exploiting the shale gas and the gas and oil already confirmed in the Black Sea” he said.


The president added he had expressed his regret to the European leaders over the failure of the Nabucco pipeline project which was designed to bring Caspian gas to Central Europe through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. Last week, Azerbaijan decided to instead transport its gas to Europe via another pipeline, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) at the expense of Nabucco. TAP crosses Turkey, Greece, Albania and ends in Italy.

Basescu went on to plea in favor of the shale gas extraction. “Romania has to take the energy strategy into its own hands. Romania has the chance to give Romanians shale gas at least 50 per cent cheaper before the date Nabucco would have been finished and gas from the Black Sea at a reasonable price”, he stressed in his press conference.

The head of state pointed out the central authorities in Bucharest now have to explain and convince the population that the fracking technology used to extract the shale has evolved very much compared to the images people saw in America where the drilling was at the beginning. “We have an alternative and have to put into practice” he added, underlining the shale gas and the Black Sea gas extraction could start in four years.

Basescu rejected the claims according to which Romania now seeks to join the Russian-backed project South Stream, arguing this would run counter to the country’s objective of diversifying its gas supply sources. “The most important message is Romania doesn’t want to remain dependent on a single supplier and we self-define our energy policy taking into account the failure of the European project. We can stay arm-crossed until Europe comes up with another project which we do not even know whether it will be successful” he highlighted.
- See more at: http://www.balkaneu.com29/6/13---
Related:

• Επελέγη το οριστικά σχέδιο του αγωγού TAP

• Nabucco project fails, placed by Trans Adriatic Pipeline project

• Endgültiges Aus für Nabucco - Konsortium entscheidet für Trans-Adriatische Pipeline

• Προκρίθηκε ο αγωγός TAP, σύμφωνα με τον αυστριακό ενεργειακό όμιλο OVM

• Υπογράφηκε η "Συμφωνία Φιλοξενούσας Χώρας" με την κοινοπραξία του αγωγού TAP

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• Νίκη Τζαβέλα: Σημαντική η όσο το δύνατον μεγαλύτερη ενεργειακή απεξάρτηση της ΕΕ από τις εισαγωγές ενέργειας .... επεσήμανε τον κίνδυνο μετατροπής της Τουρκίας σε μονοπωλιακό διάδρομο μεταφοράς ενέργειας