AstraZeneca vaccine against Covid-19.

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Gustavo Valiente / SPUTNIK / SIPA

It would be “counterproductive” to block AstraZeneca's exports, warned the British Defense Minister, Ben Wallace, on Sunday, the day after the threat from the President of the European Commission if the European Union did not receive first its deliveries.

“The European Union knows the rest of the world is watching the way the Commission behaves,” Ben Wallace told SkyNews television.

"If contracts and commitments are broken it would be very damaging for a trade bloc that prides itself on (respecting) the law," he continued.

A decision which "would damage the reputation of the EU"

He added that “it would be counterproductive”.

Emphasizing the collaborative nature of vaccine production which involves several countries around the world, the minister warned that "this would jeopardize not only the chances of their citizens to have an appropriate vaccination program, but also many other countries in the world. and damage the reputation of the EU ”.

"Trying to somehow divide or put up walls would only hurt the citizens of the EU and the UK," the minister later said in an interview with the BBC.

"Respect your contract with Europe before starting to deliver to other countries"

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to ban planned exports if she does not receive her AstraZeneca vaccine shipments.

"This is our message to AstraZeneca: respect your contract with Europe before you start delivering to other countries," she said in an interview with German media group Funke.

She recalled that the EU contract with AstraZeneca provides for the delivery of doses produced both on EU territory and in the UK.

"However, we have not received anything from the British, while we are providing them," she argued, adding that the EU had sent a "formal letter" to complain to the Swedish-British pharmaceutical group.

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