von der Leyen: "The incident in Turkey was very embarrassing"

 A very embarrassing accident.

   The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen thus described Sofagate in her speech today at the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament.

EU sources report this.

The three European institutions should be on an equal footing when it comes to third countries, von der Leyen added, then identifying a gender dimension in the incident and linking it to Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention.

Von der Leyen then promised himself that what happened on the trip to Ankara will never happen again and that the missions will be prepared jointly. 

   President Charles Michel, speaking at the Conference of Presidents of the EU Parliament, said he deeply regretted the Sofagate incident and spoke of offense to the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen and to all women.

Sources in Brussels report this.

The Belgian politician revealed that the Council's protocol service did not have access to the meeting room with Erdogan, the one where the chair accident occurred, and this was a mistake.

But according to Michel, showing disappointment with Erdogan would have jeopardized the work done with Turkey, while acknowledging that the unity of the EU has been affected by the accident.