10 million doses from Pfizer and BioNTech laboratories are turning heads in some EU Member States. Among them, Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have demanded to receive their pro rata vaccines. According to AFP, an agreement was reached “on a one-off solution”.
After long and difficult discussions, the member countries of the EU finally found an arrangement, Thursday April 1, at the end of the day “on a one-off solution” which “allows a significant expression of solidarity through the distribution of nearly 3 millions of vaccines to Member States most in need ”, announced the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. But this agreement is bitter. The vaccination campaign of European countries crystallizes disputes within the EU. The compromise proposal submitted to member countries by Portugal provided for a pro-rata distribution of the population for 7 million doses and to reserve 3 million doses to be added for the five countries experiencing complications.
“A lack of solidarity”
Nineteen countries have agreed to show their support with Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia and Slovakia. The five countries in difficulty will have their pro rata of the 10 million injections and will share 2,854,654 doses granted by their partners. In detail: Belgium, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, countries -Bas, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Sweden will decide on 6.66 million doses of the serum. As for Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia, they, for their part, refused to help their neighbors in difficulty. Two days of negotiations between the ambassadors of the member countries did not make it possible to review their positions. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, congratulated himself on having obtained, thanks to his intransigence, 199,000 doses for his country instead of 139,000, as provided for in the deal from Portugal. “Chancellor Kurz has shown a lack of solidarity and has abandoned Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia and Slovakia. He is content to write letters and let down his allies,” criticized one European diplomat. “Sebastian Kurz has shown himself to be selfish in this affair. He refused the solidarity which was the motivation for his action,” lamented the representative of another Member State. “As for the Slovenian Prime Minister, he is giving the wrong signal before his EU presidency,” he stressed. Slovenia will take over from Portugal on July 1 and hand it over to France on January 1, 2022.
The vaccine nationalism advocated by @sebastiankurz @AndrejBabis @JJansaSDS absolutely does not pay in #Europe. These “leaders” will have to be accountable to their populations.
The solidarity of other States ???? will allow the allocation of #vaccines #PfizerBioNTech to the most affected countries. pic.twitter.com/UPWAcMRX2I
– Véronique Trillet-Lenoir ???? ???? (@VTrillet_Lenoir) April 2, 2021
