VOA标准英语2009-EU Boosts Humanitarian Aid to Pakistan

The European Union has pledged millions of dollars in new humanitarian¹ assistance for Pakistanis displaced by fighting between government troops and the Taliban insurgency² in the Asian nation. The EU has also raised chances of closer trade ties during its first summit with Pakistan.
　
President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari (r) and European Union foreign affairs and security chief policy Javier Solana in Brussels, 17 Jun 2009

During the talks in Brussels, European Union officials offered both moral and financial support to Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU has decided³ to earmark nearly $90 million in new humanitarian aid for people displaced by the conflict in Pakistan's northwestern Swat valley and other areas where the government is fighting a fierce Taliban insurgency.

"I welcome President Zadari's determination to confront militants⁴ who have been challenging the authority of the democratically elected government in the northwest frontier province," said Jose Manuel Barroso. "Of course we are aware of the civilian⁵ population, of a large number of people in the area in and around the Swat Valley."

Overall, Barroso said, the EU has decided to boost its humanitarian emergency funding to Pakistan more than tenfold, to about $100 million.

The summit is the first ever between the EU and Pakistan and it was marked by warm words on both sides. President Zardari was quick to thank the 27-member organization for its financial assistance.

"I think all steps have been positive," said Asif Ali Zardari. "The fact that democracy has been acknowledged and the engagement of all the countries of the world with Pakistan and a democratic Pakistan is a relief, a positive step and an assurance that no dictator will ever be welcomed in the halls of the EU."

But Mr. Zardari also pushed for greater access to European markets, saying that what he wanted was trade, not aid.

The EU is already among Pakistan's biggest trading partners. And Mr. Barroso held out hope that commercial exchanges could be boosted. He said the EU had outlined ways to increase trade between the two sides and suggested they might hold free trade talks at some point in the future.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。