BERLIN (Reuters) – European Council President Charles Michel is suffering from bad nights because of his embarrassment over a seat arrangement incident at a meeting in Ankara this week, the German newspaper Handelsblatt said.
Ursula Von der Leyen, the first woman president of the European Commission, expressed surprise and raised her hand in disbelief when she found that Michel had taken the only chair available alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in talks.
In the episode, captured on camera, she ended up being relegated to a couch, further away.
“I make no secret because I haven’t slept well at night, because the scenes keep playing in my head,” Michel told Handelsblatt, adding that if possible, I would go back and fix it.
Madeline Chambers Reports; Edited by Frances Kerry