Vaccine diplomacy: Lithuanian embassy in Russia refuses to vaccinate with Sputnik, but some EU countries agree

Discussions about Sputnik V, which was introduced last summer but criticized for a lack of research, have gained momentum again recently, with the British scientific journal Lancet announced that the vaccine is as effective as 91 percent.

These conclusions were drawn after vaccination clinical trials in Russia last fall, involving some 20,000 people. persons.

Germany and France no longer rule out the possibility of buying this vaccine, which has already been authorized by countries such as Serbia, Mexico or the EU Member State Hungary.

Germany and Slovakia have already discussed the possibility of producing Sputnik V vaccines in Europe.

In Lithuania, the use of this vaccine appears to have become a political issue.

Speaking earlier that the Kremlin is using the vaccine as “a hybrid weapon to break down and control,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė announced on Tuesday that Lithuania would not use the vaccine.

The prime minister told LRT radio that the EU purchases will ensure a sufficient supply of Western-produced vaccines for Lithuania, so there is “no need” to consider purchasing a Russian vaccine.

He later added that Lithuanian society would be vaccinated with vaccines produced in “transatlantic partner countries”.

However, the day before, the representatives of President Gitan Nauseda were not so sure of the answer and stated that they were awaiting the decision of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the Sputnik V vaccine.

“This is definitely not a problem here today,” said Simon Krėpšta, the president’s economic and social policy adviser.

Diplomats are offered vaccination ‘like crazy’

Official figures from Russia show that more than 1.5 million people have been vaccinated with Sputnik V in the country. population.

Russia has offered to receive this vaccine to diplomats working on it from foreign countries, including Lithuania.

How crazy, every time, during every encounter.

Radio Free Europe was the first to write on this topic.

He announced, according to internal correspondence, that the European Union (EU) delegation in Moscow had allowed its diplomats to decide for themselves whether they would agree to be vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine.

In a letter sent by a senior official in the delegation on February 3, staff were informed that the Russian authorities had decided to “extend the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 to the diplomatic corps.”

He claims that for this purpose, the Russians are collecting data from members of the diplomatic mission and their relatives who would like to be vaccinated.

The name ‘Sputnik V’ is not mentioned anywhere in the letter, but so far only this vaccine is being vaccinated in Russia.

The letter indicates that the European External Action Service has not issued a final opinion on whether to allow diplomats from EU delegations abroad to receive vaccines that have not yet been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

So far, the agency has approved the Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines.

A free European radio source in Moscow said Russian officials were offering the vaccine to European diplomats “crazy, at every opportunity, at every meeting.”

EU Diplomacy chief Josep Borrell, who visited Russia last week, said the Sputnik V vaccine was “good news for humanity” and asked the European Medicines Agency to approve it.

Lithuanians refuse to get vaccinated

In Moscow, there is not only an EU-wide delegation called a diplomatic mission, but also embassies of the member states of the Community.

They also appear to have received vaccination offers and are approaching the problem differently. For example, Lithuanians refuse to do so.

15 minutes According to the information, the Lithuanian Embassy in Russia received a note from the local Foreign Ministry, where it is proposed to vaccinate the employees of the diplomatic mission in Moscow. The specific vaccine is not mentioned in the note.

Vilnius does not recommend vaccinating employees of its diplomatic missions with vaccines not approved by the EU.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that members of the staff of Lithuanian diplomatic missions in foreign countries and their relatives be vaccinated only with vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency.” 15 minutes Vytautė Šmaižytė, representative of Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, said.

15 minutes According to the information, the employees of the Lithuanian Embassy in Russia agreed not to vaccinate with the Sputnik vaccine, but the freedom of decision was left in the hands of Russian citizens working in the diplomatic mission.

Meanwhile, other European Union countries are seriously considering Russia’s proposal and some have already taken advantage of it.

On January 19, the official Sputnik V vaccine account announced on Twitter that the vaccine had been received by the Italian ambassador to Russia, Pasquale Terracciano.

“I was vaccinated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine. I did not experience any noticeable side effects,” the diplomat said in the message.

With the goal of taking over “hearts, minds and bodies”?

The chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, Žygimantas Pavilionis, said that, to his knowledge, some EU representations in Moscow have allowed them to make personal decisions regarding the Sputnik V vaccine.

Russia has traditionally tried to use this crisis to put our hearts, minds and bodies on their side and justify the many bad things they are doing.

However, according to the politician, in this situation the Community must make the unanimous decision to abandon this vaccine.

“I think the temptation with this vaccine is the very fragmentation and management of the EU, trying to corner diplomats and knowing that they still do not have much access to vaccines registered in Europe.” 15 minutes said the conservative.

According to him, Europeans are now being put into the “Kremlin’s propaganda machine not only in words but also in bodies.”

“Russia has traditionally tried to use this crisis to take over our hearts, minds and bodies and justify many of the bad things they do,” Pavilionis said.

According to the parliamentarian, “all EU leaders and diplomats” must repeat what the Lithuanian prime minister said about the Russian vaccine.

“In empires like Russia, even dances, songs or festivals are used as justification for imperial policy, not to mention vaccinations,” said the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Westerners are used to separating these areas, but in empires everything is exploited for war. “If we want to stop this war, we must not allow it,” he added.