Borrell declared the inadmissibility of "vaccine diplomacy"

Vaccination against coronavirus is necessary to remove restrictions hindering economic development and to exercise freedoms, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice President of the European Commission Josep Borrell expressed confidence in an article for RBC.

According to him, the whole world suffers from the imposed restrictions, but they have become a particularly heavy burden for developing countries. “If the gap in vaccination rates persists, we risk losing the trend of reducing poverty and inequality in the world that has emerged over the past decades. Such negative dynamics will constrain economic activity and exacerbate geopolitical tensions. For economically developed countries, the cost of inaction will definitely be higher than the collective cost of helping the world to vaccinate,” warns Borrell. The European Union is backing a $50 billion plan proposed by the International Monetary Fund to vaccinate 40% of the world's population in 2021 and 60% by mid-2022.

To achieve this goal, close coordination of all countries of the world is necessary, Borrell noted. “We should refrain from “vaccine diplomacy”, that is, the supply of vaccines for political purposes, as well as from “vaccine nationalism”, or keeping vaccines only for ourselves,” said the Vice President of the European Commission.