EU chief says ‘sofagate’ shows need to tackle sexism: ‘I felt hurt’
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen makes plea for women’s equality
- Comes three weeks after incident at meeting with Turkish president dubbed ‘sofagate’
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday her recent treatment in Turkey, where she was denied a chair at top-level talks, underscores the EU’s need to tackle sexism.
In her most personal comments yet on the incident that has come to be known as “sofagate”, von der Leyen told MEPs: “I felt hurt and I felt alone as a woman, and as a European.”
Much of the commentary on the affair has focused on Turkish President Recep Tayyip’s Erdogan’s diplomatic faux pas in failing to provide a chair for von der Leyen.
But von der Leyen told the European Parliament that she could see no reason in the EU’s own rules why she should have been treated differently to European Council chief Charles Michel.
Michel was quick to take the single chair set out next to Erdogan and the EU and Turkish flags, relegating a visibly annoyed von der Leyen to a sofa further away.
“I am the first woman to be President of the European Commission. I am the President of the European Commission,” she said, ahead of a parliamentary debate on EU-Turkey ties.