European Union Threatens "AstraZeneca" to Ban   Export of Its Vaccine

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to stop exports of "AstraZeneca" vaccines if the European Union (EU) does not receive its shipments first.

The statements of the European official came as a further escalation of the dispute over delayed dose deliveries of the anti-Coronavirus vaccine.

She said in an interview with the German media group Funke today, Saturday: "We have the option to ban all scheduled exports. This is the message addressed to AstraZeneca: Execute your contract with Europe first before starting the delivery of vaccines to other countries."

She added that the company had delivered only thirty percent of the ninety million vaccine doses it had promised in the first quarter of this year.

Von der Leyen's warning comes as the European Union countries make unremitting efforts to accelerate their campaign, and some of them are facing a third wave of the spread of the Coronavirus and the renewal of restrictions on public life.

AstraZeneca had reported a delay in production at its factories in the European Union, but European officials were angry that it managed to implement its contract in Britain and remained short on the continent.

On the other hand, the French Minister for European Affairs Clément Bonn welcomed the tougher tone of the European Commission.

He told Agence France-Presse: "We need the principle of reciprocity: we supply others if they supply us according to the contracts signed," adding that Europe must "defend its interests."

However, a spokeswoman for the European Commission, Dana Spinant, said in a press statement that the third wave of the Corona pandemic has reached Europe and is developing at different rates in different European Union countries.

She indicated during a press briefing in Brussels that this "calls for an acceleration of the vaccination process."

A spokeswoman for the European Commission said in this regard: "We see the third wave that is gradually coming, or even quickly, in the various European Union countries, and we see the need to accelerate the vaccination of the population."