Twenty days after the “Sofagate”, the event which had seen the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, during her joint visit with the head of the European Council, Charles Michel in Turkey, standing alone in the presidential lounge, then that the latter and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were seated, the snake still does not seem to have been swallowed.
“I am the first woman to chair the European Commission. I am the President of the Commission. And I was hoping to be treated as such when I went to Turkey two weeks ago ”, she began. “But it was not, and it happened because I am a woman”, added the president of the community executive. Yet Charles Michel had advanced other arguments a few minutes earlier when he spoke of a “Protocol incident”, recalling that his services had not had access to the room before the meeting and that the Commission had not sent anyone on site to demand a third chair.
The two presidents were asked to come and explain themselves as to this sofagate, in front of the Parliament on the fiasco of the displacement in the Turkish capital characterized by the lamentable spectacle of the relegation of the woman on a sofa. This was the very poor reflection of a Europe weakened by personal rivalries. Also, for more than two hours, Monday evening, the presidents of the two European institutions faced each other on either side of the plenary session desk, in an almost empty hemicycle, for health reasons. And if many MEPs, on site or by video link, gave their support to the President of the Commission, this was not the case for Charles Michel, who received no comfort, even undergoing a flood of ironic formulas , like “You were on the wrong side of the chair” or even “We are all Ursula” by the famous Catalan Puigdemont.
The President of the European Council, who had not made a gesture to ensure better treatment during the visit to Ankara, then justified not having intervened by giving up his place to Mr.me von der Leyen or by demanding a third chair: he did not wish “Not create a political incident [qu’il a] thought even more serious “. Ursula von der Leyen, has embarked on a vibrant plea for women’s rights, in Turkey and elsewhere, for gender equality, all included, non-discrimination, no to racism. The incident is not formal, she said, “it touches our values to the core” and shows that “there is still a long way to go before equality”. Several MEPs have testified to the prevailing sexism in politics.
At the end of the debate on this sofagate which the EU would have gladly done without, the President of the Commission thanked the elected representatives for “the words of support, the encouragement” received. Charles Michel, somewhat ashamed and confused and swearing that he would not be taken back, said that he is “also the father of two little girls” and that he “dreams of a Europe where equality” will be reality. And to draw as a “lesson” from this “sincere” and… “rough” debate, the determination to redouble efforts to act against discrimination.
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