Once there was gunboat diplomacy, today vaccine diplomacy is strong. But even yesterday’s hypothetical G7 meeting in light of the June summit in Cornwall – which allocated 7.5 billion in resources – neither the United States nor the European Union appears to have understood this. Brussels, unable even to guarantee supplies to its own citizens, finally gave up goodwill last summer when it planned (badly) for vaccine supplies that it promised “to make it within the reach of every region of the world”.
Joe Biden – who was concerned about keeping his promises and fortifying a hundred million Americans in his first hundred days in office – forgot that he was leading a world power. Thus, Russia and China moved in their absence. Leveraging the gunboat Sputnik that is able – according to the scientific journal The Lancet – to guarantee 91.7% protection, Moscow has obtained its vaccine approved in about thirty countries. In doing so, he paid special attention to the gray areas of Hungary, the Balkans and the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine where Europe’s credibility was already in serious trouble. In keeping with its neocolonial goals, China has instead entered into agreements with Ethiopian Airlines to ensure transportation from Shenzhen to Addis Ababa of the Sinopharma vaccine in which it will flood the black continent, ensuring more African aftershocks.
Thus it was Emmanuel Macron who broke the icy silence of the West. In an interview published by the Financial Times yesterday, the French president asked America and Europe to allocate a share of vaccines to poor countries equivalent to 5% of the doses purchased for their citizens. Thus the massive exodus of the West by surprise with vaccination strategies in China and Russia became one of the central themes of the G7 in which Biden first encountered not only Mario Draghi, but also Boris Johnson, Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron as well as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. A far-fetched panorama of America, NATO and Europe appeared.
Serbia, forgotten by Brussels, has already carried out more than half a million vaccinations, using Russian and Chinese supplies. Bosnia is preparing to do the same. In Moscow and Beijing, there is also Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia, three NATO countries decided – until a few weeks ago – to rely solely on the European Union and the United States of America. It’s hard to blame them. Indeed, it would be very difficult to honor their commitment. Biden has already announced that he does not want to give up a single dose of the vaccine until he has vaccinated all Americans. Macron assured that 5% of the dose is totally insufficient to meet the needs of poor countries. While Europe – unable even to guarantee doses for its own citizens – it has little choice but to remain silent.
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