[국제]EU threatens to block UK exports of AZ vaccine

[앵커]

Conflict is rising again between the European Union and the UK over the supply of AstraZeneca vaccines.

The EU cited the possibility of banning exports to the UK, and the UK confronted it as a’cliff edge tactic’ used by non-democratic countries.

This is a report by Park Sang-nam reporter.

[기자]

The conflict between the two sides arose when the EU Commission publicly mentioned the possibility of blocking vaccine exports to the UK on the 17th local time.

At a press conference, EU Commissioner Urzula Ponderrayen said member states are facing a third epidemic of COVID-19, and “it is necessary to accelerate vaccination.”

He did not hide his complaints, saying that the amount of vaccines exported from the EU to the EU was insufficient.

[우르줄라 폰데어라이엔 / EU집행위원장 : EU생산 백신이 다른 백신 제조국으로 왜 가는지, EU로 오는 백신은 왜 거의 없는지 시민들에게 설명하기 어렵습니다.]

He then noted the possibility of restricting vaccine exports to the UK, depending on the circumstances.

[우르줄라 폰데어라이엔 / EU집행위원장 : 만약 이 상황이 변하지 않으면, 우리는 백신 생산국들에 대한 수출을 그들의 개방 수준에 연동하는 방안을 검토해야 할 것입니다.]

However, the UK is in a position that the shipment of vaccines from Europe’s AstraZeneca plant to the UK is under contract and there is no problem.

The British Foreign Minister accused the EU of using a’cliffside tactic’.

[도미닉 라브 / 영국 외무장관 : 이런 대화가 놀랍습니다. 덜 민주화된 국가들의 ‘벼랑끝 전술’에 영국과 EU가 팀을 이뤄 반대할 때 하는 말입니다.]

The conflict between the EU and the UK, which is suffering from shortages due to the production of AstraZeneca vaccine, is getting sharper.

This is YTN Park Sang-nam.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]