VdL Tweets On 'Sofagate', Inter-Institutional Bitterness Still Not Over

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweets: "My visit to Turkey showed how far we still have to go before women are treated as equals. Always. Everywhere. My story made headlines. But there are so many stories of women, most of them far more serious, that go unobserved. We have to make sure these stories are also told!"

• The incident in question occurred on 7 April, when in a photocall between VdL, European Council President Charles Michel, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, only two chairs were present. Michel and Erdogan took the chairs to leave a disgruntled VdL to sit on a sofa some distance away with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
• The protocol incident raised issues over the treatment of female international leaders but also demonstrated the latent tensions between the two EU institutions in their efforts to be seen as the more senior body (the Council and Commission presidents should both be treated as of equal standing according to EU protocols).
• The incident continues to risk souring Commission-Council relations at a time when both institutions are under major pressure both over the muddled COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the slow ratification process for the EU's COVID-19 recovery package.