On February 25, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, convenes the second meeting of the leaders of the EU countries, where he plans to discuss the situation with the coronavirus pandemic. This was announced on Wednesday, February 3, by the representative of the head of the European Council, Barend Leits.
“On February 25 at 15:00, Charles Michel will chair the videoconference of the leaders of the 27 EU countries on COVID-19 coordination. This meeting on February 26 at 9:00 am will be followed by a second videoconference of the leaders of the 27 countries on security and defense and the Southern Neighborhood, ” Leits tweeted.
Earlier, the President of the European Council Charles Michel said at the summit on January 21 that restrictions should be provided for “non-obligatory travel” to the EU countries. There is no intention to close the internal borders, as this measure can provoke economic problems, he said.
Nevertheless, the leaders of the countries of the union agreed to create “dark red zones” in Europe, that is, territories with the highest rate of infection spread.
The next day, Michel discussed cooperation in the fight against coronavirus infection with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone conversation.
On January 29, he also announced the EU’s intention to block the export of coronavirus vaccines to the UK due to a shortage of drugs in the EU itself.
One of the reasons for the “vaccine war”, according to local media, was the behavior of AstraZeneca, which guaranteed the supply of the vaccine to the United Kingdom, but postpones its transfer to the EU, indicating a later date for signing the contract.
In turn, the European Council said it would analyze possible measures to freeze the export of vaccines, including a drug from Pfizer, 40 million doses of which Britain ordered. This order was placed at the Pfizer plant in Belgium.
In recent weeks, the EU has also faced a number of problems in the supply of the already approved vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech. Delays in deliveries could derail Brussels’ ambitious vaccination plans by June-August for about 70% of the EU population.
