Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed in his memoirs, to be published next month, that he had considered a military operation in the Netherlands during the coronavirus crisis. British soldiers were to seize coronavirus vaccine there, which Johnson believed had been “stolen” in the UK.
According to an excerpt from Johnson's memoirs published by the Daily Mail on Saturday, British defense officials met in Downing Street to outline a “workable” plan, but warned of possible diplomatic consequences.
According to the report, Johnson had instructed the armed forces in spring 2021 to examine whether a waterborne operation on a warehouse in the Dutch city of Leiden was possible. According to the report, there were around five million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the building at the time.
Johnson was convinced that the vaccine belonged to the United Kingdom because the vaccine from the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca had been developed there. At the time, there was a dispute between the UK and the EU over the export of the vaccine.
The plan was for one team to take a commercial flight to Amsterdam, while a second team would cross the English Channel at night in small boats and travel through the Dutch canals to the plant. The units would then meet up to “secure the goods” and then set off by truck to the ports on the English Channel.
The Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff, Lieutenant General Doug Chalmers, told the Prime Minister that the plan was “certainly feasible”, according to the report. However, Chalmers warned Johnson that it would be difficult to carry out the mission “undetected” in these lockdown times. According to Johnson, Chalmers objected:
“If we are discovered, we will have to explain why we are invading a longtime NATO ally.”
In his memoirs, Johnson wrote:
“Of course I knew he was right, and secretly I agreed with what everyone was thinking, but I didn't want to say it out loud: that the whole thing was crazy.”
Johnson, who was elected in 2019 on a promise to conclude the protracted Brexit negotiations and leave the EU, suggested in the book that EU officials had “hijacked” the vaccines.
“I have come to the conclusion that the EU is treating us with malice and spite,” Johnson said. He argued that the UK is “vaccinating its population much faster than they are, and European voters have long noticed that”.
AstraZeneca has since admitted in court that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause fatal side effects. According to the statement, the vaccine can “in very rare cases cause TTS”, the thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.
In this case, blood clots form in those affected with a simultaneous blood platelet deficiency. In some cases, the disease can lead to death. Approval for the vaccine has since been revoked.
However, AstraZeneca might have been pleased at the time to implement Johnson's plan, which would also have been free advertising for the pharmaceutical company.
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