The Foreign Ministers of 13 EU Member States (Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden) called for easier access to Covid-19 vaccines for Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine).
Recalling, in a letter dated January 2021 received by the Commission on the 6th, that Member States and the Commission had taken initiatives to share contract vaccines with the most immediate neighbours, such as the Western Balkans, the Ministers considered that the EU should go further and “give similar attention to the other neighbours – the countries of the EU Eastern Partnership – if they wish so”.
According to the Ministers, these countries have on many occasions underlined their recognition of EU assistance linked to Covid and advocated for easier access to vaccines.
The heads of diplomacy also felt that, in the context of the next Eastern Partnership summit, which could be held in February in Brussels, the EU should send a “strong and coordinated message” on the strategic value of this Partnership and that sharing or facilitating access to vaccines would be an important element.
The countries of the Southern Neighbourhood have not been forgotten either, with the Ministers saying they are ready to support them if they so request. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)