BRUSSELS. “What happened in Ankara will never happen again.” After a week of frost for the “Sofagate” in Turkey, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met today for the first time face to face with Prime Minister Charles Michel. And he wanted to make things clear once and for all, while at the same time trying to dissolve the disagreements for the lack of reaction of the Belgian politician, who during the visit to Erdogan remained seated in an armchair next to the Turkish leader without uttering a word while the German president was relegated to a sofa beside the two.
Frictions that had clouded the image of EU diplomacy and highlighted the differences between the two institutions. The sky therefore seems to be clear again over Brussels after the clarifying meeting which took place at the Berlaymont building, seat of the community executive, in the classic weekly routine format. According to European sources, the president, in a kind but firm way, made it clear that she will never allow such a situation to happen again.
Michel and von der Leyen, in addition to discussing developments in the Turkish affair, also spoke on a series of topical issues and tomorrow, as if to witness a rapprochement, they will both participate in the Conference of Presidents at the European Parliament, which could invite them to a debate in plenary to clarify in front of everyone what happened in Erdogan’s mission.
The spokesman of the community executive Eric Mamer had announced the face to face today in the usual midday briefing, specifying that Michel and von der Leyen had not been able to talk to each other in these seven days for various reasons. After her visit to Ankara, the president had in fact gone on a mission to Jordan and then went to Germany to reunite with her family, whom she had not seen since Christmas, meanwhile also dealing with the various dossiers on the table.
A series of appointments that had therefore not allowed her to hear Michel, according to the official version of Palazzo Berlaymont. Mamer then assured that “the cooperation between von der Leyen and Michel will continue in the interest of the EU and the citizens”, recalling how last week the president herself had asked her services to contact their counterparts in the Council on the incident to seek a “modus vivendi” with the aim of preventing similar situations from happening again in the future.