First modification:
The incident occurred in the context of the European Union-African Union summit, at a time when the Ugandan Foreign Minister ignored the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to greet only the male representatives present, given the inaction of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. It is not the first time that the senior official is the protagonist in a similar situation.
His position does not prevent rudeness. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, (the body that holds the bloc’s Executive power) suffered a rudeness while she was receiving the heads of delegations that would participate in the European bloc’s summit with the African Union.
One of the participants, Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, walked past the senior official and greeted her with an imperceptible nod. Immediately, he shared an effusive handshake with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and immediately afterwards with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union.
Realizing the situation, Macron invited Odongo to greet Von der Leyen, with whom the head of Ugandan diplomacy exchanged a few words, but with whom he did not shake hands at any time.
During the incident, the president of the European Council limited himself to keeping silent, without at any time drawing the attention of the Ugandan foreign minister. The situation sparked a wave of criticism on the networks.
The ‘sofagate’, the rudeness prior to Von der Leyen
A year ago, the Commission President suffered another awkward moment on a visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the room where Von der Leyen and Michel were received, only two chairs were set up, which were occupied by the host and the President of the European Council.
Standing up, the president had to sit on a sofa, far from the center of the meeting, even though her presence was central to the meeting. Her place was homologous to that of the Turkish foreign minister, a position of lower hierarchy than that held by Von der Leyen.
Criticism rained down on the Turkish protocol, the episode was known as ‘sofagate’ and the hashtag #GiveHerASeat (give her a chair) ran on the networks.
Even on that occasion, the official’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, pointed out that the first woman in that position “expects that the institution she represents will be treated with the required protocol, and for this reason she has asked her team to take all the appropriate contacts to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.
Interviewed later, the official admitted that she had felt “hurt and alone as a woman.” At that time, Michel did not react to demand recognition from the community leader, which cost him numerous criticisms. Now, months after what happened, she did not take action either.
with local media
First modification:
The incident occurred in the context of the European Union-African Union summit, at a time when the Ugandan Foreign Minister ignored the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to greet only the male representatives present, given the inaction of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. It is not the first time that the senior official is the protagonist in a similar situation.
His position does not prevent rudeness. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, (the body that holds the bloc’s Executive power) suffered a rudeness while she was receiving the heads of delegations that would participate in the European bloc’s summit with the African Union.
One of the participants, Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, walked past the senior official and greeted her with an imperceptible nod. Immediately, he shared an effusive handshake with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and immediately afterwards with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union.
Realizing the situation, Macron invited Odongo to greet Von der Leyen, with whom the head of Ugandan diplomacy exchanged a few words, but with whom he did not shake hands at any time.
During the incident, the president of the European Council limited himself to keeping silent, without at any time drawing the attention of the Ugandan foreign minister. The situation sparked a wave of criticism on the networks.
The ‘sofagate’, the rudeness prior to Von der Leyen
A year ago, the Commission President suffered another awkward moment on a visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the room where Von der Leyen and Michel were received, only two chairs were set up, which were occupied by the host and the President of the European Council.
Standing up, the president had to sit on a sofa, far from the center of the meeting, even though her presence was central to the meeting. Her place was homologous to that of the Turkish foreign minister, a position of lower hierarchy than that held by Von der Leyen.
Criticism rained down on the Turkish protocol, the episode was known as ‘sofagate’ and the hashtag #GiveHerASeat (give her a chair) ran on the networks.
Even on that occasion, the official’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, pointed out that the first woman in that position “expects that the institution she represents will be treated with the required protocol, and for this reason she has asked her team to take all the appropriate contacts to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.
Interviewed later, the official admitted that she had felt “hurt and alone as a woman.” At that time, Michel did not react to demand recognition from the community leader, which cost him numerous criticisms. Now, months after what happened, she did not take action either.
with local media
First modification:
The incident occurred in the context of the European Union-African Union summit, at a time when the Ugandan Foreign Minister ignored the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to greet only the male representatives present, given the inaction of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. It is not the first time that the senior official is the protagonist in a similar situation.
His position does not prevent rudeness. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, (the body that holds the bloc’s Executive power) suffered a rudeness while she was receiving the heads of delegations that would participate in the European bloc’s summit with the African Union.
One of the participants, Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, walked past the senior official and greeted her with an imperceptible nod. Immediately, he shared an effusive handshake with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and immediately afterwards with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union.
Realizing the situation, Macron invited Odongo to greet Von der Leyen, with whom the head of Ugandan diplomacy exchanged a few words, but with whom he did not shake hands at any time.
During the incident, the president of the European Council limited himself to keeping silent, without at any time drawing the attention of the Ugandan foreign minister. The situation sparked a wave of criticism on the networks.
The ‘sofagate’, the rudeness prior to Von der Leyen
A year ago, the Commission President suffered another awkward moment on a visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the room where Von der Leyen and Michel were received, only two chairs were set up, which were occupied by the host and the President of the European Council.
Standing up, the president had to sit on a sofa, far from the center of the meeting, even though her presence was central to the meeting. Her place was homologous to that of the Turkish foreign minister, a position of lower hierarchy than that held by Von der Leyen.
Criticism rained down on the Turkish protocol, the episode was known as ‘sofagate’ and the hashtag #GiveHerASeat (give her a chair) ran on the networks.
Even on that occasion, the official’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, pointed out that the first woman in that position “expects that the institution she represents will be treated with the required protocol, and for this reason she has asked her team to take all the appropriate contacts to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.
Interviewed later, the official admitted that she had felt “hurt and alone as a woman.” At that time, Michel did not react to demand recognition from the community leader, which cost him numerous criticisms. Now, months after what happened, she did not take action either.
with local media
First modification:
The incident occurred in the context of the European Union-African Union summit, at a time when the Ugandan Foreign Minister ignored the President of the Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to greet only the male representatives present, given the inaction of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. It is not the first time that the senior official is the protagonist in a similar situation.
His position does not prevent rudeness. Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, (the body that holds the bloc’s Executive power) suffered a rudeness while she was receiving the heads of delegations that would participate in the European bloc’s summit with the African Union.
One of the participants, Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo, walked past the senior official and greeted her with an imperceptible nod. Immediately, he shared an effusive handshake with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and immediately afterwards with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union.
Realizing the situation, Macron invited Odongo to greet Von der Leyen, with whom the head of Ugandan diplomacy exchanged a few words, but with whom he did not shake hands at any time.
During the incident, the president of the European Council limited himself to keeping silent, without at any time drawing the attention of the Ugandan foreign minister. The situation sparked a wave of criticism on the networks.
The ‘sofagate’, the rudeness prior to Von der Leyen
A year ago, the Commission President suffered another awkward moment on a visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In the room where Von der Leyen and Michel were received, only two chairs were set up, which were occupied by the host and the President of the European Council.
Standing up, the president had to sit on a sofa, far from the center of the meeting, even though her presence was central to the meeting. Her place was homologous to that of the Turkish foreign minister, a position of lower hierarchy than that held by Von der Leyen.
Criticism rained down on the Turkish protocol, the episode was known as ‘sofagate’ and the hashtag #GiveHerASeat (give her a chair) ran on the networks.
Even on that occasion, the official’s spokesman, Eric Mamer, pointed out that the first woman in that position “expects that the institution she represents will be treated with the required protocol, and for this reason she has asked her team to take all the appropriate contacts to ensure that such an incident does not occur in the future.
Interviewed later, the official admitted that she had felt “hurt and alone as a woman.” At that time, Michel did not react to demand recognition from the community leader, which cost him numerous criticisms. Now, months after what happened, she did not take action either.
with local media