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It (nearly) happened again. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was left in the awkward position of almost being ignored by a dignitary attending the EU’s flagship Africa summit.
The incident, in which Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo appeared to walk past von der Leyen with only a slight acknowledgment and no handshake at a photo op, had uncomfortable parallels with a diplomatic protocol breach in Turkey last year that came to be known as “Sofagate.”
On that occasion, European Council President Charles Michel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were seated next to each other in grand chairs while von der Leyen was relegated to a sofa. “It happened because I am a woman,” von der Leyen said later. Michel conceded he may have made a mistake and regretted the situation.
Oh no, it’s #sofagate all over again. Good thing that this time Emmanuel Macron was there to save the day
pic.twitter.com/kvqdIDLOcc
— Viktor Daněk (@ViktorDanek_) February 18, 2022
At the Africa summit meet and greet, Odongo bypassed von der Leyen before shaking the hands of Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron. He then took his place between von der Leyen and Michel for a group photo.
This time, the faux pas was partially averted when Macron stepped in and indicated to Odongo that he may wish to greet the Commission president.
Source: Politico
