"Sofagate": Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel explain themselves to MEPs
Charles Michel, speaks during a debate on Turkey at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, April 26, 2021. REUTERS - POOL
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel came to explain themselves Monday evening to MEPs meeting in plenary session in Brussels on the Sofagate, this episode during which the President of the European Commission had been placed on a couch, while Charles Michel, representative Member States of the EU, and Turkish President Erdogan were seated in the only two chairs available.
It was at the beginning of April during a visit to Ankara.
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With our correspondent in Brussels,
Joana Hostein
Still humiliated, this is how the President of the European Commission appeared before parliamentarians three weeks after her trip to Ankara.
“
I felt hurt, I felt alone, as a woman and as a European,
” said Ursula von der Leyen.
Installed opposite Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council once again tried to justify himself.
“
Once again I can see that the images could have given the feeling to a lot of women to be offended,
” said Charles Michel.
I would like to reaffirm my total, complete, absolute commitment to supporting women.
"
►Also read:
#sofagate controversy: the protocol affront experienced by Ursula von der Leyen in Ankara
Supporting women to achieve equal pay, to facilitate their access to positions of responsibility, so many commitments made to MEPs, in vain.
Renew MEP Nathalie Loiseau did not mince her words: “
The precedence between the presidents of the European institutions does not interest me for a single second.
The real scandal in Ankara is the human rights violations committed there.
I would like Europe to ask a little less where it should sit and a little more how it should stand.
"
It is time for member states that have not yet ratified the Istanbul Convention on Violence Against Women to do so, insisted an Italian MEP.
Europe's credibility is at stake.
►Also read: "Sofagate" in Ankara: after the diplomatic quack, Turkey blames the EU
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European Union
Ursula von der Leyen
Turkey