ER Editor: See earlier publications on von der Leyen’s text messages to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and other corruption issues.
Law professor Alberto Alemanno from the article below has this perceptive comment to say about the latest legal salvo against von der Leyen’s mysteriously unavailable text messages:
“My first reaction — without, again, having read the briefs — is that this legal action is almost a provocation attempt at raising the visibility around the inability of the Commission to respond to the European ombudsman claims, and to add up to the pressure that the New York Times legal action brought before court,” Alemanno said.
The mysterious Pfizer contracts, still running, have put EU countries on the hook for millions of doses that have gone to waste and will continue to go to waste as demand for the injections continues to decline. And nobody seems accountable.
********
Another week, another attempt to get access to *those* text messages. And this time it’s personal.
While the prospects for the case are as-yet unclear, the lodging of a criminal complaint against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen by 35-year-old Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan over undisclosed text messages adds to the clamour of voices calling for greater transparency over how the EU’s COVID-19 vaccine contracts were negotiated.
It was meant to be her crowning achievement: The Commission President swooping in to take decisive action at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, rescuing the bloc in its hour of need. But pressure is mounting to reveal the extent of her personal role in the deal, which has left countries on the hook for millions of unneeded doses at a time when her name is increasingly being bandied about as a candidate for a second term as Commission President.
European lawmakers, national health ministers, journalists, the European budget watchdog, possibly the European prosecutor and now a Belgian lobbyist all want to find out more about what exactly was said in messages exchanged between von der Leyen and Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla in the run up to a massive deal for up to 1.8 billion doses of BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in the spring of 2021.
Legal jeopardy
First reported by Belgian outlet Le Vif, Baldan filed a criminal complaint in Belgium against von der Leyen on April 5 with a judge at the court of first instance in Liège.
The filing comes in the wake of a case brought by the New York Times against the European Commission in the European Court of Justice over access to the texts, which itself follows a finding of maladministration against the institution from the European Ombudsman for failure to search for the messages in response to a freedom of information request.
CONTINUE READING HERE
************
Featured image, Ursula von der Leyen: Clemens Bilan/EPA-EFE
••••
The Liberty Beacon Project is now expanding at a near exponential rate, and for this we are grateful and excited! But we must also be practical. For 7 years we have not asked for any donations, and have built this project with our own funds as we grew. We are now experiencing ever increasing growing pains due to the large number of websites and projects we represent. So we have just installed donation buttons on our websites and ask that you consider this when you visit them. Nothing is too small. We thank you for all your support and your considerations … (TLB)
••••
Comment Policy: As a privately owned web site, we reserve the right to remove comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence, racism, or personal/abusive attacks on other users. This also applies to trolling, the use of more than one alias, or just intentional mischief. Enforcement of this policy is at the discretion of this websites administrators. Repeat offenders may be blocked or permanently banned without prior warning.
••••
Disclaimer: TLB websites contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of “fair use” in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, health, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than “fair use” you must request permission from the copyright owner.
••••
Disclaimer: The information and opinions shared are for informational purposes only including, but not limited to, text, graphics, images and other material are not intended as medical advice or instruction. Nothing mentioned is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Leave a Reply