And Von der Leyen's WhatsApps, when?

He New York Times has become an interesting concoction for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The newspaper made a request, through the transparency portal, to see the WhatsApp messages exchanged between the president and officials of the pharmaceutical company Pfizer during the pandemic and vaccine development. The newspaper maintains that those messages are official communications and, therefore, should be subject to public scrutiny. The Commission argues that they are ephemeral in nature and, therefore, refuses to make them public. But the Luxembourg court has reprimanded von der Leyen for failing to provide credible explanations as to why these documents cannot be recovered. And it is asking for more information and a very detailed justification. It is a small victory, but one that opens up interesting ramifications.

Now that you WhatsApp Pedro Sánchez's messages have been animating political and media circles all week, what the European court is proposing is interesting. If politics were really made through this form of communication, and the supply of the necessary doses of the vaccine was agreed upon by means of a mobile messenger, it is fair to demand its scrutiny. Which is not what is happening with the Spanish president, since his messages have been divulged from a self-serving leak aimed at political damage and which, furthermore, only have the value of a laundry list. These are miserable issues of petty politics, of "look, look what he says about this one." I find it difficult for the Times go ahead, but what they propose makes perfect sense: a president's cell phone should be considered an institutional communication device: with all the necessary protections, but without being a refuge for opaque and discretionary maneuvers.