💨 Abstract

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during the COVID-19 pandemic seem to have been deleted. The New York Times had sued for access to these messages, arguing EU transparency rules. The Commission claims that the messages were ephemeral communications, not official documents. Critics accuse von der Leyen and her top adviser Bjoern Seibert of power centralization and resisting transparency.

Courtesy: WTOP Staff