Subscribe to our social channels to get the latest news about Hungary!
European Union to funnel COVID vaccines to Balkans after China, Russia
Change language:
The European Union will ship over half a million COVID-19 shots to the Western Balkans by August using for the first time in the region a vaccine-sharing mechanism meant to help its poorer neighbours and to challenge Chinese and Russian influence.
The EU move comes after China and Russia distributed millions of doses of their vaccines in the region, whose countries are candidates to join the EU, and months after the EU vaccine-sharing mechanism was set up.
“Despite the current global shortage, the EU will deliver life-saving vaccines for the Western Balkans,” Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner responsible for the region, told a news conference on Tuesday.
The bloc plans to funnel 651,000 doses of BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccines from early May to Bosnia, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.
“With this initiative we are showing that we are not leaving the region behind,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.
His country, the successor state to an empire that once stretched deep into the Balkans, maintains close ties with countries in the region and is coordinating the shipping there of vaccines procured by the EU.
The European Commission outlined plans for a vaccine- sharing mechanism in January, but EU nations have struggled to share them with poorer neighbours amid supply delays that have hampered their own vaccine rollouts.
Serbia, the region’s main recipient of Chinese and Russian shots, already has one of the highest vaccination rates in Europe, and briefly shared some of its shots with neighbours.
COMMUNICATION FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO ALL NON-EU BALKAN NATIONS :
“Please accept these contributions to your on-going fights against COVID-19.
The distributions will be as follows : Albania = 145,000 / Bosnia = 214,000 / Kosovo = ? / Montenegro = ? / North Macedonia – 119,000 / Serbia = 36,000.
Total doses to be sent = 651,000 (enough to fully vaccinate 325,500 people).
Kindly note that this ‘sharing mechanism has proven to be EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL with E.U. nations following our involvement in obtaining / distributing such vaccines from the manufacturers.
We only ask that you give preference with vaccination to ILLEGAL MUSLIM MIGRANTS and SEXUAL DEVIANTS, both of which groupings are of utmost importance to the European Commission (more so than ‘ordinary’ E.U. citizens – or your own).
By accepting this donation, we expect you to TOTALLY IGNORE all actions already made by China and / or Russia to offer assistance in these times of need.
LONG LIVE BRUSSELS AND THE E.U. ”
End of message.