Austria and Denmark have dealt a fresh blow to the EU’s ailing joint vaccine procurement scheme by agreeing to partner with Israel to get extra doses of Covid jabs.
According to Politico’s Brussels Playbook, Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen are to “seal a vaccination deal” with Israel at a meeting with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a further splinting of EU vaccine solidarity, Poland is asking China for vaccines.
And Slovakia has ordered two million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, which is yet to be approved for use by the EMA. The decision has proved controversial, however, with Slovakian parliament member Tomas Valasek quitting the government coalition over the plan to order doses from Moscow.
The bloc’s procurement scheme was further undermined on Sunday when Hungarian PM Viktor Orban posted a photo on social media showing himself being inoculated with the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, which has also not been approved by the EMA.
Meanwhile, European countries left with a shortage of vaccine doses by the EU’s stuttering procurement process are reportedly turning to the “grey market” in their search for more jabs.
Indeed, EU nations are beginning to take “pitches from around the world at often exorbitant prices”, says The New York Times. Sellers offering millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines “have approached EU governments”, the paper reports, and “some nations are also trying to negotiate directly with drug makers and eyeing the murky open market where they are still unsure of the sellers and the products”.
-
How Putin misunderstood his past victoriesIn Depth Though Vladimir Putin has led Russia to a number of grisly military triumphs, they may have misled him when planning the invasion of Ukraine
-
Crossword: August 18, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Codeword: August 18, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
On VE Day, is Europe alone once again?Today's Big Question Donald Trump's rebranding of commemoration as 'Victory Day for World War Two' underlines breakdown of post-war transatlantic alliance
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
