The host, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and EU President Michel were allowed to sit on their respective chairs in front of their respective flags. But no chair had been presented to von der Leyen, who heads the European Commission and also holds the title of president.
– Ehm, was the comment from von der Leyen, who seemed somewhat put out of the situation and had to settle for a place a little away from the other two, at the far end of a sofa. Opposite her sat Turkey’s foreign minister, who according to the protocol has a lower rank than the guest from Brussels.
– Shameful
What appears to be an insult to the first woman to hold one of the top three positions in the EU hierarchy has led many in Brussels to react.
– First, they withdraw from the Istanbul Convention against Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women, and then they leave the head of the European Commission without a chair on an official visit. Shameful, Iratxe Garcia Perez writes Twitter. The Spanish EU parliamentarian marks the message with the hashtag #WomensRights – women’s rights.
German Sergey Lagodinsky suggests that von der Leyen’s “Ehm” is a short version of “this is not how relations between the EU and Turkey should be”.
Charles Michel also receives criticism. Dutch EU parliamentarian Sophie in ‘t Veld wonders why the EU president did not say anything when his female colleague did not get a seat.
– Wrong signal
It also does not help that it all happened on a trip where the EU leaders want to improve the strained relations with Turkey. One of the themes was precisely that the country has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention.
– It makes me very worried. This is about protecting women and children, and this is a completely wrong signal to send, von der Leyen said after the meeting and emphasized that “issues concerning human rights are not open to negotiation”.
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