Eventually, Ursula von der Leyen was seated on a sofa a little further away from her counterparts.
Brussels:
Video from Tuesday s encounter in Ankara showed von der Leyen flummoxed as the Turkish leader and European Council president Charles Michel took the only two chairs in front of their flags. Ehm, muttered the former German defence minister, appearing unsure where to go.
Eventually she was seated on a sofa a little further away from her counterparts, opposite Turkey s foreign minister someone below her in the protocol pecking order. The president of the commission was clearly surprised, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said, insisting von der Leyen should have been treated exactly in the same manner as Michel.