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Previous British Premier unveils plotted ‘raid’ on NATO ally
(MENAFN) Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson has disclosed in his memoirs that he once considered a covert operation to seize COVID-19 vaccine doses from a factory in the Netherlands amid tensions between the United Kingdom and the European Union in 2021. The Halix plant was holding approximately 5 million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, which the European Union had refused to export to the United Kingdom, citing its own citizens' needs.
According to excerpts published by the Daily Mail, Johnson convened British defense officials at Downing Street to discuss a potential plan that was deemed "feasible," albeit fraught with risks of diplomatic fallout. The proposed operation involved two teams: one would fly commercially to Amsterdam, while the other would embark on a nighttime journey across the English Channel in small boats, navigating through Dutch canals to reach the factory. The teams would meet up to "secure the hostage goods" and transport them back via a cargo truck to the Channel ports.
Johnson noted the significant challenges in executing such a plan without detection, especially during the strict lockdown measures in place at the time. He quoted a defense official who warned that if they were discovered, they would have to justify an action that would effectively amount to invading a NATO ally.
Reflecting on the motivations behind the plan, Johnson expressed a belief that European Union officials were deliberately obstructing the United Kingdom’s vaccine procurement efforts. He felt that the European Union was acting with "malice and spite," especially as the United Kingdom was outpacing the European Union in its vaccination rollout—a fact that had not gone unnoticed by the European public.
This revelation has sparked discussions about the lengths to which political leaders might go in the pursuit of national interests, particularly during a global health crisis. Johnson’s memoir sheds light on the tense dynamics of United Kingdom-European Union relations during this critical period and raises questions about the implications of such clandestine strategies among allied nations.
According to excerpts published by the Daily Mail, Johnson convened British defense officials at Downing Street to discuss a potential plan that was deemed "feasible," albeit fraught with risks of diplomatic fallout. The proposed operation involved two teams: one would fly commercially to Amsterdam, while the other would embark on a nighttime journey across the English Channel in small boats, navigating through Dutch canals to reach the factory. The teams would meet up to "secure the hostage goods" and transport them back via a cargo truck to the Channel ports.
Johnson noted the significant challenges in executing such a plan without detection, especially during the strict lockdown measures in place at the time. He quoted a defense official who warned that if they were discovered, they would have to justify an action that would effectively amount to invading a NATO ally.
Reflecting on the motivations behind the plan, Johnson expressed a belief that European Union officials were deliberately obstructing the United Kingdom’s vaccine procurement efforts. He felt that the European Union was acting with "malice and spite," especially as the United Kingdom was outpacing the European Union in its vaccination rollout—a fact that had not gone unnoticed by the European public.
This revelation has sparked discussions about the lengths to which political leaders might go in the pursuit of national interests, particularly during a global health crisis. Johnson’s memoir sheds light on the tense dynamics of United Kingdom-European Union relations during this critical period and raises questions about the implications of such clandestine strategies among allied nations.
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