The consequences of the Corona crisis for “Orzo La von der Leyen”

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, newspaper ” In a report, Hamburger Abendblatt addressed the shaky power position of Orzo La von der Leyen, the current head of the European Commission, to re-assume this position due to the disclosure of a scandalous case and wrote: A huge billion-dollar contract for the corona vaccine from Biontech. /Pfizer has legal ramifications for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the European election year of 2024. Von der Leyen could be forced by the European High Court to reveal his cellphone text messages about the unprecedented deal. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) wants to quickly decide on the complaint of the American newspaper “New York Times”, which asks the Commission to investigate the text messages on the cell phone of the head of this institution.

According to the European Court of Auditors, Von der Leyen personally arranged a major contract for up to 1.8 billion doses of the BionTech vaccine for 35 billion euros in the spring of 2021 in the spring of 2021, according to investigators, in initial secret negotiations with Albert Borella, the head of the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer. It did not comply with the rules. However, von der Leyen himself denies the allegations. A spokesman for the New York Times said in an explanation of the complaint: “Until today, information about the terms of the largest supply contract in the history of the European Union has been hidden from the public.

The European public has been researching the preparation of a corona vaccine by the European Commission for 15 months, and the result is expected to be obtained in the first months of 2024. Frederic Baldan, a business expert and lobbyist, has submitted a criminal complaint against von der Leyen to the Belgian judiciary on charges of corruption and destruction of documents related to this big deal and text messages related to it.

A hearing in a Belgian court earlier this year also shows how angry a number of countries, mainly in Eastern Europe, are about the terms of the controversial deal. After violent protests, Pfizer agreed to extend the delivery period to 2027 and reduce the amount delivered — but would have to pay for each canceled dose, insiders said. This has hardly reduced the dissatisfaction of many EU countries. Pfizer is suing Poland and Hungary because they are adamantly refusing to pay billions of euros for unnecessary doses of the vaccine.

Read more: The legal consequences of Corona reached von der Leyen at an inopportune time, right in the year of the European elections. He should soon announce whether he will apply for the second term of the commission’s presidency or not. On March 7, the EPP party family von der Leyen will announce its main candidate for the European elections at a convention in Bucharest; There should already be internal transparency. In Brussels, party friends, diplomats and Commission officials have so far assumed that von der Leyen would like to stay in office until 2029 – and that he would stand a good chance of re-election if he ran.

According to them, von der Leyen launched the Green Deal” with ambitious climate and environmental laws, demonstrated the EU’s geopolitical ambitions in the Ukraine war, and played an important role in the crisis management of the EU. Von der Leyen is hailed by diplomats as “the most influential woman in Europe”. However, some of her fellow EPP friends complain that she neglects conservative issues and positions. Von der Leyen is now in is trying to mend rifts in his camp – and has been silent for months on whether he wants to run again as the powerful Brussels boss.

Of course, those around He justified the unexpected hesitation of the European Commission President by saying that he wants to do his official work as much as possible without being disturbed by the election campaign. But now, at the beginning of the new year, von der Leyen has to accept that his candidacy will not be successful and there is a risk of failure. The legal issue over vaccine procurement is just one of the problems that could overshadow his re-election bid.

Recently reports that Emmanuel Macron, France’s president is making waves as he tries to pick former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi as the next president of the European Commission. After that, von der Leyen can become the Secretary General of NATO. The proposal will be very tense because von der Leyen only came into office because Macron unexpectedly brought him into the field in 2019.

From Von der Leyen, on the other hand, has recently caused considerable ire in European capitals with some of his foreign policy actions. He promised 50 billion euros in non-backed financial aid for Ukraine, to be paid by EU countries. In Tunisia, he signed a preliminary migration agreement without consulting member states, and the fact that he deviated from official EU policy during his visit to the occupied territories angered Brussels: he unilaterally Israel provided full support to defend against Hamas attacks, without complying with international law as agreed. rely on the unified support of 27 heads of European countries. The European Parliament must approve their proposal. Von der Leyen was elected in 2019 with only a small majority. This time too he cannot be sure of support at both levels. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has threatened to veto his second term as president. There are enough competitors for von der Leyen, Thierry Breton, the French internal market commissioner, has clearly shown himself to be interested in the position.

This situation Rumors are spreading that von der Leyen does not want to be president of the European Commission again, but is actually toying with the position of NATO Secretary General. Of course, the time will be right, Jens Stoltenberg, the current NATO Secretary General, will step down in October 2024. Von der Leyen has so far denied any ambitions. Mark Rutte, the outgoing Dutch prime minister, is now seen as the favorite to take over the post, while Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas and Minister Latvian foreigner Krisianis Karins is also competing. However, von der Leyen needs to plan ahead for his future and has to rush into decisions – and risk failure if necessary.

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