Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, in December.
Photographer: Aaron Chown / PA Media / Bloomberg
Photographer: Aaron Chown / PA Media / Bloomberg
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen received a call on Wednesday night after European Union efforts to secure vaccines boosted tensions between the two parties, according to two people familiar with the matter.
One of the people made the call around 19:00. This came hours after von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, had plans to restrict the export of vaccines from the EU to Britain. Spokesmen for both the commission and the British government declined to comment.
A strife over vaccine exports is the latest dispute over muddy relations between Britain and the EU since the UK left the bloc. The two parties are also embroiled in an argument over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Brexit agreement.
The UK is the largest recipient of doses made in the EU, receiving 10 million of the 42 million shots fired since February. EU Ambassadors was told on Wednesday that no vaccines had been imported from Britain.
Read more: EU chooses Astra vaccine battle with UK over missing supplies
– With help from Tim Ross and Nikos Chrysoloras