Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel (AP Photo / Burhan Ozbilici)

  • EU - Turkey, close to second 'diplomatic incident' for Ursula von der Leyen

  • Turkey.

    Italian ambassador summoned after words from Draghi

  • "Erdogan dictator".

    Turkish politicians against Draghi, the support of Lettera150

  • Turkey.

    No armchair for Ursula von der Leyen: it is 'sofagate' for Erdogan

  • EU-Turkey, von der Leyen: "Ankara respects human rights and the rule of law"

Share

April 10, 2021 I'm very sorry about what happened.

I have already expressed my regret to Mrs.

von der Leyen

and to all women.

I assure you that since then I have not slept well at night and that in my head I rewound the movie of the episode dozens of times.

I assume my share of responsibility. "Thus in an interview with Il Sole 24 ore Ore the president of the European Council,

Charles Michel

.



" I had a few seconds to decide the attitude to have.

At the time, my impression was that any reaction would have cast doubt on the long diplomatic work that had prepared our visit.

Furthermore, I did not want to have

any paternalistic attitude

towards Mrs.

Von der Leyen

", he continues.



And regarding

Mario Draghi's

words

about Turkish President

Erdogan

:" I respect the opinions expressed by each European head of state and government.

Here I want to note that a significant part of our meeting with the Turkish president was about defending democratic values ​​and the rule of law.

We have expressed our concerns ", he concludes.