BRUSSELS, Dec 30 (AFP) - Europe's leaders are scrambling to respond to the Asian tsunami disaster, some of them cutting short holidays amid criticism that they were slow to react to a catastrophe that may have killed thousands of Europeans.
While German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder returned to Berlin, others like Britain's Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac were managing their response to the situation from holiday homes, or leaving it to ministers.
In Sweden, feared to be one of the worst affected with up to 4,500 tourists missing or unaccounted for, the government has been heavily criticized for failing to quickly grasp the magnitude of the tragedy.
"Resign, Laila Freivalds!", the tabloid Aftonbladet demanded of the foreign minister, reporting that she had chosen to go to a theatre performance on Sunday evening while her staff scrambled to gather details.
In terms of aid, Europeans governments rushed to pour in tens of millions of euros in funds almost as quickly as the overall death toll in the region soared towards 120,000 following the earthquake-triggered tidal waves that devastated the shores of the Indian Ocean last Sunday.
Sweden has led the field with a massive donation of 55 million euros (75 million dollars); France nearly doubled its aid to 57 million dollars Thursday; the Netherlands upped its contribution to 27 million euros on Wednesday.
But several governments have been forced to defend the absence of their government chiefs.
"The prime minister is entitled to some rest because he's normally on duty day and night," said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw Wednesday, explaining Blair's decision to remain on holiday in Egypt.
Germany's Schroeder, whose country's death toll is 33, with more than 1,000 missing, was one of the first to cut short a vacation to return to Berlin. He also cancelled a planned New Year's Day trip to Austria.
His government has earmarked 20 million euros for the aid effort, while German charities said that private donations were flooding in at an unprecedented level.
Belgium's Guy Verhofstadt also returned to his office early. But his foreign minister Karel de Gucht drew fire Thursday.
"Where has ... De Gucht got to?" asked the mass-market Belgian daily La Derniere-Heure, noting that it had taken "several dozen telephone calls" to track him down on holiday in Germany.
French President Jacques Chirac was returning to Paris Thursday to give his traditional New Year greetings after vacationing in Morocco, from where he issued a statement saying his foreign minister was travelling to the stricken region.
Foreign ministers were also in charge in countries including Greece, Poland and Italy, while most European heads of state and government issued statements of condolence and solidarity.
In Portugal a row was bubbling over Portugal's ambassador to Thailand, who was on vacation in Lisbon when tragedy struck, and returned to Bangkok only on Tuesday evening, although eight Portuguese were missing in the country.
Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson said accusations that Stockholm was slow to respond were unfounded. "We have been working intensively to coordinate information from families, travel agencies and people on the ground," he said.
Blair broke his silence on the tragedy on Wednesday, saying his government would use its forthcoming chairmanship of the Group of Eight industrial nations to help provide aid for victims of Asia's tsunami disaster.
"This New Year the world is united in sorrow for those affected by one of the biggest natural disasters in our lifetime," he said.
12/30/2004 16:41 GMT - AFP