URSULA VON DER LEYEN FULLY EXONERATED FOR HER ROLE IN PFIZER CONTRACTS
- WWHISPER
- Apr 5, 2023
- 2 min read
At a very tense hearing in Brussels on 27 March 2023, Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides completely dismissed the responsibility of Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission, by declaring before the Covid Special Committee that she (Leyen) was not involved at all in the negotiations that led to the signing of the multi-billion dollar vaccine contracts with the laboratories.
"The President of the European Commission was not involved in negotiating the Covid contracts. I have said it before and I will say it again," Stella Kyriakides stressed. "There was a team in charge of the negotiations and a steering committee," she stressed. And it does not stop there. For the Covid Special Committee, she pointed out the responsibility of the member states. "The member states always had the possibility to reject a contract (...). They were perfectly aware of the terms of these contracts," Stella reveals.
Stella Kyriakides told the Covid Committee that every effort had been made to ensure that MEPs were aware of the ins and outs of the contracts signed with the laboratories. However, she acknowledged that the answers given to MEPs were not satisfactory because of the confidentiality clauses applicable to these contracts.
It must be said that Stella Kyriakides' hearing took place in a stormy context characterized by a strong demand from European citizens (represented by different political parties) to finally have access to the contracts signed between the European Commission, headed by Ursula Von Der Leyen, and the laboratories, in particular Pfizer, which received the grand prize.
The turn of events heightened the anger of European citizens. Von Der Leyen and Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, were summoned to explain the signed contracts and categorically refused to appear before the EU Covid Commission. This attitude has aroused huge anger from the European political class, especially in France, where many voices are calling for the unconditional publication of the contracts in the name of transparency.
Will the European Commission finally capitulate? That is the question. In the meantime, Ursula can sleep on both ears again. She is hedged in by her commissioner. That's how they do it.
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