The last ten weeks have been a depressing time for those few believers in the EU’s lofty ideals. The saga of the vaccine procurement and roll out would be funny if it was not so tragic, beginning with Ursula von der Leyen trying to erect a hard border in Ireland in January and now culminating in Italy impounding meningitis jabs to America.
You would have hoped such incompetence would have made some in Brussels reflect on their hubris. Not a bit of it, judging by the briefing of an anonymous EU official last weekend. Sounding like a menacing two bit Bond villain, the ‘senior diplomat’ told CNN: ‘You might feel very happy on your little island when you are all vaccinated, but your island might feel very small when you cannot leave it because your neighbours are not vaccinated’
Clearly someone failed to get the memo on European harmony, given that just last week the President of the European Parliament told European leaders: ‘Salvation lies in working together’ and ‘the more unity we show, the more trust we will inspire’ with the UK now planning to donate some 3.7 million vaccines to Ireland.
Steerpike wonders what someone in, say, locked down Paris might make of such a sentiment. Is it supposed to be a comfort to know that the Brits cannot travel, as new deadly variants sweep the continent? If this is diplomacy, one would hate to see what malice looks like.
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