If anyone has recently given Europeans a good glimpse of how the European Union functions—or not—it is Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
On March 12, the 34-year-old vehemently accused the EU of unfairly distributing vaccine doses among its 27 member states. Lashing out at the “EU bazaar,” he demanded adjustments in favor of member states that received less doses than others. Kurz took the dispute all the way to the European Council meeting in Brussels last week, taking precious time away from pressing issues on the agenda—transatlantic relations, a common vaccination “passport,” and possible vaccine export bans. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly got so annoyed with Kurz that she reminded the group that vaccine contracts were signed by member states themselves “and not by some stupid bureaucrats” in Brussels.
