The Russian Embassy in Tirana has reacted after the comment of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on its publicly expressed suggestion for the Sputnik-V vaccine, describing that step as a provocation.
“It is difficult to understand why the Prime Minister […] has been so upset by the embassy’s comment […] It just reacted to the re-tweet of the Prime Minister’s Communication Director, Endri Fuga, regarding the start of vaccination in the EU and the statement of the head of the government at the conference on December 24 during which he mentioned the difficulties in acquiring the necessary amount of vaccines for the population of the country as soon as possible,” said the Russian embassy in its post on Wednesday.
In addition the embassy said it had shown the willingness of the Russian authorities to consider a possible application by Albania to be supplied with the Sputnik V vaccine in the comment of December 28.
“In Russia, there is no doubt that joint efforts of all countries, which have conducted scientific research and have the relevant technologies, will help humanity overcome this disaster and return civilization to the path of sustainable development. At the same time, Moscow does not impose any conditions on potential partners. We regret that Russia’s goodwill, publicly expressed, is interpreted as provocative actions. To be convinced that this is not the case, it is enough to get acquainted with the text of the commentary,” the embassy’s response said.
Besides a promise repeated frequently by Rama and other officials that vaccines will arrive in Albania by mid-January, there’s no official contract to assure worried Albanians, especially the elderly, that the vaccines will be available soon. Some specialists say it bluntly that vaccination might start by spring 2021 when it is expected a restraint of the pandemic./argumentum.al
