At a time when the European Union can’t offer coronavirus vaccine supplies for the Western Balkans, the countries in the region turn to China and Russia, with Serbia emerging as the frontrunner, reads an article published by Brussels-based POLITICO.
According to POLITICO, one of the countries aiming to follow in Belgrade’s footsteps is North Macedonia, where no one has been vaccinated yet.
“With the country’s first COVAX shipment expected to arrive in March, the strongly pro-EU government has now opted to negotiate with China in an attempt to secure vaccines more quickly. Skopje is also in direct talks with Pfizer for some 800,000 shots, which it hopes to receive this month,” says the publication.
POLITICO reports that Health Minister Venko Filipche has said this move shouldn’t be seen as the country turning away from the bloc.
“I don’t consider this to be a political and geopolitical situation, this is a matter of public health. We are all facing challenges with the access to vaccination. EU countries are facing their own challenges. I see the European solidarity mechanism as being delayed, not failed,” Filipche told POLITICO.
The Brussels-based publication also reports a statement by epidemiologist Dragan Danilovski, who said that even before the approval of the vaccines by the European Medicines Agency, their whole production has been purchased in advance, and the country has been left behind to wait for some better times.
“As in the example of the Titanic, when the lifeboats were occupied first by wealthy travelers; the poor drowned. This time we have the same psychological matrix in action. In critical moments, everyone strives to provide for himself first,” Danilovski said, expressing doubt that COVAX shipments would arrive as planned.
In addition, POLITICO reports that besides Serbia, Albania is the only other Western Balkan country to have started its vaccination campaign, “thanks to an unidentified EU country sending Tirana a symbolic shipment of 975 doses.“
According to the publication, this is an uncomfortable reminder to the EU that it’s facing intense competition for influence in its immediate neighborhood, where frustration is growing over the bloc’s slow approach to allowing more countries to become members.
“The vaccination rollout is only adding to that frustration. Four of the six Western Balkan nations have yet to receive a single dose despite promises from Brussels to ensure access. The European Commission pledged EUR 70 million to help get shots to the Western Balkans on top of the EUR 500 million the bloc contributed to the COVAX Facility, which aims to guarantee equitable access to coronavirus vaccines and treatments worldwide,” reads the article.
POLITICO points out that there still is no timeline for when vaccines will reach the region, while rich countries prioritize their own vaccination plans.
“The wait for vaccines, coming at a time when joining the EU seems an increasingly distant prospect, risks pushing the Western Balkans further away from the bloc. Following Serbia’s lead, many in the region — which have recorded some of the highest per-capita death rates during the pandemic — are also starting to look east for help,” says POLITICO.
