EU Standing President "Never Stopped Vaccine Exports"... Denies Vaccine Nationalism

"UK and US Blocked Vaccine Exports"... UK Government Strongly Protests
"China and Russia Are Just Trying to Mislead Us," They Dismiss

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Charles Michel, the President of the European Union (EU) Summit, has completely denied the criticism of 'vaccine nationalism' directed at the EU, stating that the EU has never stopped exports and instead blamed the UK and the US for restricting vaccine exports. The UK government has strongly protested this, reportedly causing diplomatic friction.

According to foreign media including Sky News UK on the 9th (local time), President Michel stated in a press release, "The EU has never stopped vaccine exports." He added, "The UK and the US have completely banned the export of vaccines produced on their own soil." The statement was reportedly issued to clarify the recent criticism of vaccine nationalism against the EU after the Italian government blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines scheduled to be transported from Italy to Australia.

Earlier, on the 4th, AstraZeneca requested the Italian government to allow the export of 250,000 doses of vaccines packaged at the Anagni plant near Rome to Australia, but the Italian government refused and informed the EU Commission of this fact. The EU Commission supported Italy's decision, which led to ongoing criticism of vaccine nationalism worldwide. In January, the EU Commission introduced regulations requiring approval from the EU Commission for exporting vaccines produced in EU countries to other continents to ensure vaccine supply within the EU.

President Michel explained, "The control of vaccine exports produced in EU countries was to prevent companies from exporting doses that we ordered and prepaid for to other developed countries without delivering them to us." He added, "The criticism against the EU is a strategy by China and Russia to mislead us," emphasizing, "We must not fall for their strategy of vaccine diplomacy."

He claimed, "If it were not for the EU, we would not have been able to develop and produce COVID-19 vaccines in such a short period," and argued that the EU contributed to the international community by uniting to enable vaccination in underdeveloped and impoverished countries.

President Michel's statement has escalated into diplomatic friction with the UK. The UK's EU delegation protested Michel's statement, saying, "The UK has never imposed an export ban on COVID-19 vaccines, and President Michel's claim about the UK's export ban is a clear falsehood." Dominic Raab, the UK Foreign Secretary, is also reported to have sent a letter of protest to President Michel regarding this matter.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.