The video that makes the rounds of the world has caused a war atmosphere in Brussels. This shows Commission President Ursula von der Leyen standing in front of European Council President Charles Michel and the Turkish President. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as no seat was provided for her in the conference room of the Turkish Presidential Palace.
The president murmured in bewilderment as he stood up as Michelle and Erdogan sat in the two armchairs set up to accommodate the two men, the only ones to attend the meeting between the two European leaders and the Islamist Turkish president. .
Ursula von der Leyen then took a seat on a couch, opposite the Turkish Foreign Minister, who is hierarchically under the chairman of the Commission during the protocol, according to the APE-MPE, citing AFP.
Watch the video:
The insult, unintentional or premeditated, coincides with a sensitive situation. The European Union and Turkey are seeking to restore relations after months of tension, while Europeans make no secret of their concerns about the violation of fundamental rights in Turkey, which was accompanied by Erdogan’s recent decision to leave Ankara. Istanbul to prevent violence against women and children.
After the meeting the Ursula von der Leyen she said anxiously. “I am deeply concerned that Turkey has withdrawn from the Istanbul Convention. It is about protecting women, protecting children, against violence and it is clearly a bad sign right now. “Issues related to human rights are not negotiable,” he said.
MEPs angry
The incident angered many MEPs in Brussels.
“First they withdraw from the Istanbul Convention and now they leave the president of the European Commission without a seat during an official visit. It is a shame #WomensRights “, wrote on Twitter the president of the socialist group in the European Parliament, the Spaniard Iratche Garcia Perez.
Ursula von der Layen’s expression “emm ..!” is the new motto for the position that ‘the EU-Turkey “It should not be like that,” said German MEP Sergei Lagodinsky.
But, if the behavior of the Turkish side is taken for granted for anyone with the slightest experience of the protocol, but also the substantial treatment of women in an Islamic environment, the attitude of the President of the European Council should not be taken for granted. Wasn’t Charles Michel prepared for the expected, if not premeditated, insult? And if not, what was it that prevented him from reacting spontaneously?
As Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie in Veld wonders, why did the President-in-Office of the Council remain “silent” while his colleague was standing up and in obvious embarrassment?
Eric Mammer: He prioritized the substance of the protocol
The President of the European Commission expects that the institution she represents will adopt the behavior required by the protocol, stressed the Chief Representative of the Commission Eric Mammer when asked about the way European leaders sat in the meeting with Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara and the fact that she sat on the couch in opposition to the President of the European Council who was next to the Turkish President.
At the same time, Eric Mammer stated that Ursula von der Leyen “asked her team to make the necessary contacts to ensure that such an incident does not happen in the future.”
“The important thing is that the President should have sat in exactly the same way as the President of the European Council and the Turkish President, but she still decided to go ahead and prioritize the substance of the protocol,” he said.
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