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European Parliament Chief Visits Ukraine, Says 'We Stand with You'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola address the media during a joint statement at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Michele Tantussi/Pool photo via AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola address the media during a joint statement at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Michele Tantussi/Pool photo via AP)
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European Parliament Chief Visits Ukraine, Says 'We Stand with You'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola address the media during a joint statement at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Michele Tantussi/Pool photo via AP)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola address the media during a joint statement at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (Michele Tantussi/Pool photo via AP)

The head of the European Parliament said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that the people of Europe stand with Ukraine and will help rebuild its towns and cities after the war with Russia.

Roberta Metsola, who took over as the European Parliament's president in January, also said the assembly would support Ukraine's efforts to start the process of joining the European Union.

"Please believe me when I say that the European Parliament, the European Union and the people of Europe stand with Ukraine. That is why I am here today, because we stand with you," she said after arriving in the capital Kyiv.

Metsola, who is Maltese, made three promises to Ukraine.

"First, (President Vladimir) Putin's criminal invasion of Ukraine puts Russia in direct confrontation with Europe, the international community and the rules-based world order. That is not something that we will let him do unchallenged," she said.

"Second, the European Union recognizes your European ambitions and your aspiration to be a candidate country for succession. And you can count on the European Parliament's full support in achieving this goal."

"Third, we will help you rebuild your cities and your towns when this illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary war is over. We have already provided financial, military and humanitarian assistance. This will continue and it will increase," she told a joint briefing with Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada, or parliament.

Stefanchuk said they had discussed continuing international sanctions on Russia, humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine and procedures for EU accession.

The prime ministers of EU member states Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia visited Kyiv last month in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. EU countries are among those that have imposed sanctions on Russia over its invasion.

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Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
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Large Earthquake Hits Battered Vanuatu

A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters
A vehicle is trapped beneath a collapsed building following a strong earthquake in Port Vila, Vanuatu, December 17, 2024, in this screengrab taken from a social media video. Jeremy Ellison/via Reuters

A magnitude-6.1 earthquake rattled buildings on Vanuatu's main island early Sunday but did not appear to have caused major damage, five days after a more powerful quake wreaked havoc and killed 12 people.

The nation's most populous island, Efate, is still reeling from the deadly 7.3-magnitude temblor on Tuesday, which toppled concrete buildings and set off landslides in and around the capital of Port Vila.

The latest quake occurred at a depth of 40 kilometers (25 miles) and was located some 30 kilometers west of the capital, which has been shaken by a string of aftershocks.

No tsunami alerts were triggered when the temblor struck at 2:30 am Sunday (1530 GMT Saturday).

Port Vila businessman Michael Thompson told AFP the quake woke his family.

"It gave a better bit of a shake and the windows rattled a little bit, it would have caused houses to rattle," he said.

"But you know, no movement other than a few inches either way, really. Whereas the main quake, you would have had like a meter and a half movement of the property very, very rapidly and suddenly.

"I'd describe this one as one of the bigger aftershocks, and we've had a fair few of them now."

Thompson said there was no sign of further damage in his immediate vicinity.

The death toll remained at 12, according to government figures relayed late Saturday by the United Nations' humanitarian affairs office.

It said 210 injuries had been registered while 1,698 people have been temporarily displaced, citing Vanuatu disaster management officials.

Mobile networks remained knocked out, making outside contact with Vanuatu difficult and complicating aid efforts.

In addition to disrupting communications, the first quake damaged water supplies and halted operations at the capital's main shipping port.

The South Pacific nation declared a seven-day state of emergency and a night curfew following the first quake.

It announced Saturday it would lift a suspension on commercial flights in an effort to restart its vital tourism industry.

The first were scheduled to arrive on Sunday.

Rescuers Friday said they had expanded their search for trapped survivors to "numerous places of collapse" beyond the capital.

- Still searching -

Australia and New Zealand this week dispatched more than 100 personnel, along with rescue gear, dogs and aid supplies, to help hunt for trapped survivors and make emergency repairs.

There were "several major collapse sites where buildings are fully pancaked", Australia's rescue team leader Douglas May said in a video update on Friday.

"We're now starting to spread out to see whether there's further people trapped and further damage. And we've found numerous places of collapse east and west out of the city."

Thompson said power had been restored to his home on Saturday but said many others were still waiting.

"We're hearing a lot of the major businesses are still down, supermarkets are trying to open back up," he said.

"So this is very different to what's happened with disasters here in the past.

"Cyclones destroy everything outside, whereas earthquakes really destroy a lot of infrastructure inside the buildings."

Vanuatu, an archipelago of some 320,000 inhabitants, sits in the Pacific's quake-prone Ring of Fire.

Tourism accounts for about a third of the country's economy, according to the Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council.