The current practice of unequal access to coronavirus vaccines by European Union member states needs to be corrected, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said at a press conference with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Bulgaria in Vienna on Tuesday.
The prime ministers – Czech Andrej Babis, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov – agreed with the Austrian chancellor’s statement. It has been said that there is a need to return to the previous agreement of heads of government of EU member states, that is, to distribute vaccines to the population.
Kurtz emphasized that the aim of their joint action was not to find a scapegoat, but to impose the much-expressed principle of European solidarity and to find a common European solution to the problem.
He added that the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen provided their support for the initiative of the heads of government, and that a possible solution would be discussed via video link later this week. “Pharmaceutical manufacturers not only fail to meet promised deadlines and quantities, but also the principle of proportional distribution,” Bojko Borissov said.
If this continues, then by June we will have a vaccination rate of 30 percent in some countries and 60 percent in others. We are still in time to prevent the legitimate resentment and political crisis that directly arises from this disparity
Janez said Jansa. André Babis explained that the original plan of the Union to achieve 70% vaccination coverage for the population of Europe in the summer can only be realized if they return to the principle of the original distribution.
In addition to the four prime ministers, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Latvian Prime Minister Chrisjanis Karens joined the talks before the briefing via video link. They all agreed that a just solution must be found to the current situation, because Europe can only successfully overcome the crisis caused by the Coronavirus if it does not separate from the principle of European solidarity.
