Print Magazine
Brussels Morning Newspaper
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • About Us
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Newspaper
  • Home
    • About Us
  • EU institutions
    • Commission
    • Parliament
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • The American Angle
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Southeast Europe
Brussels Morning Newspaper
No Result
View All Result
Home Europe

EU fails to be a ‘geopolitical actor’ in COVID-19 diplomacy

Angelos Kaskanis by Angelos Kaskanis
24 May 2021
in Europe
EU fails to be a ‘geopolitical actor’ in COVID-19 diplomacy
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Athens (Brussels Morning) The EU and US have been extending medical and development assistance, particularly in the case of India. While the EU is exporting vaccines to the developing world, however, it is Russia and China that are leading the way in vaccine exports and COVID-19 diplomacy.

Russia has sent vaccines to more than 22 different countries and China, to more than 49 countries so far. For a European Commission that has articulated geopolitical ambition, that is a major failure. But it is a failure in which Brussels is not alone. 

Under the Trump Administration, the US failed to push forward with an ambitious vaccination program. The Biden rollout has been progressing impressively with the vaccine rollout and is now following through with a more ambitious foreign aid program, especially in hard-hit India. Similarly, the UK failed to decisively contain the COVID-19 virus but achieved remarkable progress with the vaccination rollout, losing diplomatic gains made by announcing a severe cut in its foreign aid budget from 0.7 to 0.5 of Gross National Income (GNI). 

EU nil, Moscow one

The European Commission decided to pull together the negotiating power and financial resources of its member states. Having poured money into different research projects – University of Oxford and Imperial College (AstraZeneca) BionTech and CureVac (Germany and Sanofi (France) – the idea was to secure privileged access on behalf of member states. Instead, many EU member states saw themsleves undersupplied. 

Instead, Sanafi has failed to produce its own vaccine to date, the EU will not renew its contract with AstraZeneca, and has just sealed yet another deal with  Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses, the first and to date the only reliable EU vaccine. This appears to be a case of too little too late. 

The Russian-made Sputnik V has not yet been approved by the EU’s European Medicines Agency. What is embarassing is that EU member states are already deploying the vaccine in their national rollouts, particularly in Central and Eastern European Europe, as it is cheaper and more readily available in greater quantities. 

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are following Serbia in deploying Russian vaccines. Lithuania says that it will not recognise vaccination certificates issued by countries using the Russian vaccine in their rollout but that is not likely to be a gamechanger in the grand scheme of vaccine geopolitics. 

Slovakia signed a deal to acquire 2 million doses of the Russian jab, although the purchase was kept secret until this first delivery. When 200,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik coronavirus vaccine landed in the eastern Slovakian city of Kosice during March, Prime Minsiter Igor Matovic was forced to leave his post because he’d failed to consult his coalition partners.

Development aid

In a highly complex geopolitical situation, the Ukrainian government was forced to turn to China to secure doses of the Sinovac vaccine. Serbia and other Western Balkan states turned to Russia and China too. There are similar experiences across North Africa. 

On 12 February, Algeria was the first to announce that it would receive 40 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine.

The first shipment was delivered in the beginning of March to Tunisia while Egypt is preparing to produce 40 million doses. The latter has already ordered 20 million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine.

Radical US vaccines protectionism — banning the export of stocks originating within its borders — meant that countries such as Morocco could only turn to China and Russia.

Russia’s Sputnik V has dominated not only neighbouring states — Central Asia and Eastern Europe — but also Latin America, beginning with Brazil and Argentina. 

At the same time Russian vaccine tours are in high demand to travelers hungry for immunity.

If public outrage emerges in response to the low efficacy of Chinese vaccines, Latin American political elites could end up between a rock and a hard place: damaged international cooperation frameworks and ineffective immunity levels. 

At the very least, it is likely that the experience of the pandemic is likely to trigger public investment in biomedical research in emerging economies with the specific objective of national self-reliance and import substitution.

Tags: European-SecurityMain-Slider

Latest post

Ansongo,,Mali,-,December,2015,:,Daily,Life,Of,French

Report reveals deep links between Airbus and Chinese military industry

2 hours ago
EU’s urban population at risk due to heavy air pollution, EEA says

EU to ban sale of new internal combustion cars in 2035

5 hours ago

Most Read

  • These are the 10 highest paying jobs in the Europe in 2022

    These are the 10 highest paying jobs in the Europe in 2022

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Are The Highest Paying Jobs In Luxembourg?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Energy Recovery Fund

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What Are The Highest Paying Jobs In Finland?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • A taste of Croatian flavors of the diplomacy in Brussels

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Facebook Twitter Youtube LinkedIn

About Us

Brussels Morning is a daily online newspaper based in Belgium. BM publishes unique and independent coverage on international and European affairs. With a Europe-wide perspective, BM covers policies and politics of the EU, significant Member State developments, and looks at the international agenda with a European perspective.

Category

  • Ambassador’s Corner
  • Belgium News
  • Brussels
  • Commission
  • Council
  • Culture and Society
  • Diplomacy
  • Economy
  • EU Institutions
  • Europe
  • Europe With Transparency
  • Features
  • In Depth
  • Member States
  • Middle East Eye
  • Opinion
  • Our pick
  • Parliament
  • Place de la Bourse
  • Southeast Europe
  • Sustainable Perspective
  • The American Angle
  • The Macro-Economist
  • Uncategorised
  • US Elections
  • World

More info

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Cookies Policy
  • Contact Us
  • FAQ
  • Jobs

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About Us
  • EU Institutions
    • Parliament
    • Commission
    • Council
  • Europe
  • World
  • Member States
  • Economy
  • Culture and Society
  • In Depth
    • Ambassador’s Corner
    • Europe With Transparency
    • Place de la Bourse
    • The Macro-Economist
    • Sustainable Perspective
    • The American Angle
    • Southeast Europe
  • Print Magazine

Brussels Morning Newspaper - All Rights Reserved © 2020

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT