Von der Leyen is once again embarrassed in front of Charles Michel | Abroad

This time this happened during the European-Africa summit that took place in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Von der Leyen stood with Charles Michel, President of the European Council and French President Emmanuel Macron on a podium for a photo opportunity with representatives of the participating countries.

Among them is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda Jeje Odongo. Von der Leyen greeted him nicely with a nod of the head as he came on the podium. She was ready to shake hands with the African minister, but he walked past her, as can be seen on images on social media. Odongo seems to nod for a moment and then walks over to Michel and Macron and shakes their hands slightly bent over. He then casually stands between von der Leyen and Michel to allow himself to be photographed with his chest out.

Then he turns to both hosts and thanks them, bending over, with a nod of his head. And neither Macron nor Michel likes that. Even before the latter points to von der Leyen with an arm gesture, the French president walks over to the Ugandan and forces him to turn to face the European Commission president with the same arm gesture. He then thanks him by bending over almost exaggeratedly, his hands folded in front of his stomach. After a short polite conversation, during which von der Leyen nods with a smile, Odongo bows again to the French president and leaves the podium.

In April last year, Ursula von der Leyen had no seat available during a summit between Charles Michel and her with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. After the ‘diplomatic slip’ she was forced to take a seat on a sofa in the second row. On social media, not only the Turkish president was hit, but also European president Charles Michel, who, according to widely viewed video images of the meeting, quickly stole the ‘European’ chair and left von der Leyen to her fate.

Von der Leyen made it clear to Michel in a personal conversation a week after the incident that she will never allow such a situation again, sources close to the EU Commission report. Nothing has been officially released about the conversation between the two. Turkey and the EU blamed each other for the incident. The Turks claim that no seat was set up for von der Leyen at the direction of the EU, but according to the EU, they were not allowed to see the reception area beforehand.

Charles Michel placed some of the responsibility with the Turks. The protocol of the European Council was not allowed access to the room the day before the meeting, nor did it receive detailed information about the arrangement of the seats, according to an interview he gave to several European newspapers in the same week. Nevertheless, he also took on some of the responsibility. “The arrangement of the seats was humiliating and that is very regrettable. I haven’t slept well since the sofa incident. The film is constantly running through my mind,” said the European Council President.

The misogynistic reception caused a storm of criticism in Europe. Especially because the visit of von der Leyen and Michel to the Turkish president was partly dominated by respect for human and women’s rights. The Turkish withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, which fights violence against women, was a key item on the agenda.

With ‘sofagate’, the Turkish president unintentionally contributed to the improvement of the position of European women. Thanks to him, the pressure to give women more pay and more board seats in listed companies became apparent at the end of April last year during a debate with Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen. European Council President Michel promised to make even more effort than before to promote women’s rights.

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