Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the European Commission must respect the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union and make all communications on the orders of coronavirus vaccines between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla public without delay.
After a meeting of foreign ministers of the Council of Europe in Luxembourg on Wednesday, Minister Szijjártó said that Von der Leyen belonged to the European People’s Party, which had the opposition Tisza Party as a member, and described her as a “Hungarophobe politician making severely anti-Hungarian decisions”, according to a ministry statement.
Minister Szijjártó said this was the reason why the EC had been “compulsively and continually harassing Hungary, trying to carry out various procedures against our country.”
“And it is Ursula von der Leyen who repeatedly expressed damning opinions about the state of Hungarian democracy, transparency, and respect for law. The same Ursula von der Leyen who has been found trying to order Pfizer vaccines in a very suspicious way, questionable economically and in every other sense, by text message at a time when the lives of millions of Europeans were at stake,” he added.
“And the same Ursula von der Leyen is keeping communication between herself and the Pfizer chief a secret on ordering vaccines capable of protecting Europeans from Covid,” he said.
“I believe that from now on, President Von der Leyen is the last person from whom we are willing to accept and consider any criticism about Hungary’s domestic affairs,” he added.
“What financial issues did they talk about? Why did the Commission pay what it paid, and why were the vaccines arriving late in Europe? Why did the health service system drift to the edge of failure in several countries? How is it possible that Europe was among the last in terms of vaccines?” he asked.
