Von der Leyen: 'Sofagate' incident happened because I'm a woman

Ursula von der Leyen humiliated Charles Michel on Monday in revenge for the European Council president’s part in the sexist “sofagate” scandal that embarrassed her on a diplomatic visit to Turkey.
She was forced to sit on a sofa after Mr Michel took one of the only two chairs provided for the meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April.
Video footage of an uncomfortable Mrs von der Leyen, the first woman to lead the European Commission, standing before the two seated men went viral and fuelled talk of a rift between the leaders of the two EU institutions.
“I felt hurt and I felt, I felt alone, as a woman and as a European,” Mrs von der Leyen told the European Parliament on Monday after Mr Michel apologised to MEPs.
She dismissed Mr Michel’s excuse that sofagate was a “protocol incident”, as the simmering briefing war between the two EU presidents erupted in the Brussels' seat of the parliament.
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