Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó refuted a recent allegation by German Social-Democrat (SPD) MP Karl Lauterbach in which he claimed Hungary was buying the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine because it was cheaper than the Western alternatives.
“Fake news in the German Social-Democrat fashion. Every word is a lie,” Szijjártó wrote in a Facebook post.
In a January 31 tweet, Lauterbach said “It seems unfair that Hungary is now complaining about slow EU delivery and buying Russian Sputnik vaccines,” after saying the BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were “too expensive.”
Es wirkt unfair, dass Ungarn sich über langsame EU Lieferung jetzt beklagt, russische Sputnik Vakzine kauft. EU Verhandlungskreise haben oft auf Widerstand auch Ungarns hingewiesen beim späten Einkauf BionTech/Moderna, „zu teuer“, „haben keine Kühlkette“ https://t.co/TjPZVwWPGp
— Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) January 31, 2021
Lauterbach (57), who holds degrees in medicine and health economics, is a professor of health economics and epidemiology at the University of Cologne. He left the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 2001 to join the SPD. He is currently an MP of the party, serving on the German Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection and its Subcommittee on European Law.
Title image: Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó. (source: Facebook)
