DISINFO: The EU non-approval of Sputnik V is a political issue
SUMMARY
The EU non-approval of Sputnik V is a political issue. Sputnik V is the best vaccine in the world and the non-approval is purely political. The EU authorities' rejection of Sputnik V is a matter of politics rather than the vaccine's efficacy.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about a global conspiracy to prevent the success of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) started the rolling review of the Sputnik V vaccine on 4 March 2021. At the beginning of September 2021, EMA stated it was still waiting for necessary additional data from Sputnik V's manufacturers before it can authorise the vaccine.
The EMA and EU leaders have publicly stated they will welcome Sputnik V if it meets the applied standards for vaccines. In fact, problems with inconsistent, problematic or missing data and lack of transparency have been regularly reported regarding Sputnik V, leading some international health regulators to consider the information yet insufficient.
As Marcus Ederer, the EU ambassador to Russia stated:
The Russian side has repeatedly postponed the timing of the inspection requested by the EMA, which slows down the process... This is a technical, not a political process. When Russian officials talk about delays and politicization on the European side, it sometimes seems to me that they mostly talk about themselves, since they are the ones who politicize this issue.
See similar disinformation narratives about the Sputnik V vaccine, claiming that the process of recognising it is artificially delayed, that the West discredits the most effective Sputnik V and prevents mass vaccination in Russia, or that Europe will "fight with feet and hands" against Sputnik V.