Vaccine-Gate: Brussels responds with arrogance to critical media
The European Commission keeps providing the same blanket answer to try and shirk responsibility for the scandal surrounding the vaccine procurement contracts. Brussels is not afraid to silence journalists, either.
Brussels is increasingly frustrated with journalist probing the scandal surrounding vaccine procurements. V4NA has tried several times before to get answers as to why the European public is denied access to these contracts, but has always received the same mantra-like answer from those responsible.
Responding to a previous inquiry by V4NA, EU Commission spokesperson Stefan De Keersmaecker wrote that the contracts, naturally, contained specific clauses covering each issue, including that of late delivery, but he could not go into the details of the contracts.
„This information is confidential and cannot be shared. Still, we will try to use all the means at our disposal to ensure delivery as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.
He expressed hope that pharmaceutical companies would follow suit and waive the confidentiality clause because the Commission is a staunch proponent of transparency.
While Hungary has made public its contracts with Russian and Chinese manufacturers, the European Commission has only published the AstraZeneca contracts on its official website so far, but some of their content is obscured. The Brussels documents – classified as „sensitive” – have been leaked within the country, making clear that Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides was the signatory.