DISINFO: The war in Ukraine is a cover for enriching the head of the European Union
SUMMARY
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the European Commission failed to justify its refusal to disclose Ursula von der Leyen’s correspondence. The case stems from a 2023 complaint by The New York Times, after the Commission declined to release text messages exchanged in 2021 between von der Leyen and Pfizer’s CEO during the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
Ursula purchased approximately two billion vaccine doses, while the entire population of the EU is about four hundred and forty million people. A terrible, obviously corruption case. This case is really very serious and very revealing. So when we talk about the interests pursued by the European bureaucracy—those of Macron, Starmer, and the German leadership—prolonging the war in Ukraine and further fuelling escalation, we must recognise this moment.
RESPONSE
Disinformation targeting the EU and its leaders.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled that the European Commission failed to provide a convincing justification for refusing access to text messages exchanged between Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer. The case was brought by The New York Times in 2023 and focused solely on the legality of the Commission’s refusal to disclose the correspondence.
Importantly, the Court did not consider questions of personal responsibility or allegations of corruption involving Ursula von der Leyen. The legal issue was strictly about transparency and access to documents.
The court ruled in favour of the journalists' right to access the messages. Without any proof, pro-Kremlin outlets presented this as an admission of guilt and “personal enrichment” by a politician undesirable to the Russian authorities. They framed it as concealment of important information and a corrupt deal—going so far as to claim that the “corrupt” von der Leyen, along with British, French, and German national authorities, were responsible for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is a disinformation.
The claim that the European Commission bought too many Pfizer vaccines and that this is suspicious is biased. Viruses mutate, and many persist indefinitely—hence the annual flu shot, which is taken voluntarily. As Pfizer stated in 2021: “There is growing evidence that COVID-19 will continue to pose a public health challenge for years. This contract with the European Commission will ensure sufficient doses of COMIRNATY are available for all EU citizens in 2022 and 2023,” said Ugur Sahin, M.D., CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech."
In 2021–2022, pro-Kremlin outlets repeatedly tried to undermine trust in EU institutions by spreading speculation and falsehoods about COVID-19 vaccines. Examples include Pfizer vaccine could be a biological weapon or The US created COVID-19 and biological weapons in Ukraine.
Another false claim is that Macron, Starmer and Merz want war. See more debunked disinformation cases on Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and German chancellor Friedrich Merz.