PARIS –The first female president of the European Commission (EU) vowed to defend women’s rights after admitting she was “hurt” by a chair snub during a summit with male leaders in Turkey.
Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair at a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on April 6.
Turkey was criticized, as was EU Council president Charles Michel, who took the only chair next to Erdoğan.
In a speech to the European Parliament on Monday, von der Leyen suggested sexism was at the root of the seating blunder, known as “sofagate”.(BBC)
