The European Public Prosecutor’s Office is checking the messages between Ursula von der Leyen and the head of Pfizer | political

A spokesperson for the Liège Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a response to Politico that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is investigating allegations of negotiations between the president of the European Commission and the CEO of Pfizer over Covid vaccines.

European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigators have taken over the investigation into negotiations between European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer, according to legal documents seen by POLITICO and confirmed by a spokesperson for the Liège prosecutor’s office.

The investigation, in which no defendant has yet been charged, concerns alleged criminal offences, regarding “interference in public functions, destruction of SMS, corruption and conflict of interest”.

The investigation was initially opened by Belgian judicial authorities in the city of Liège in early 2023 following a criminal complaint filed by local lobbyist Frédéric Baldan.

It was later joined by the governments of Hungary and Poland, although the latter is in the process of withdrawing its complaint after a pro-EU government led by Donald Tusk won the election, the source said.

Baldan’s complaint centered around an alleged exchange of text messages between von der Leyen and Pfizer boss Albert Bourla in the run-up to the EU’s biggest vaccine deal at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was worth an estimated over 20 billion euros.

So far, the Commission has refused to reveal the content of the messages or even confirm their existence.

The deal, negotiated at the height of the pandemic in 2021, was initially seen as a triumph, but the huge amount of vaccines purchased sparked controversy amid billions of euros worth of wasted doses.

In Romania, the topic was a big topic of dispute especially between PSD (in opposition in 2021) and USR (with Ministers of Health in 2021). The PSD has repeatedly accused the USR of the fact that through its ministers it could avoid the purchase of another 39 million doses, after the Government had already contracted 56 million that were being delivered in the first part of 2021.

The blame is passed between the former Ministers of Health from the USR and members of the Cîțu team. In the end, the state is left with expenses of billions of lei.