Lucinda Creighton: ‘Sofagate’ shows it’s time we clarify who speaks for Europe

Ursula von der Leyen’s indignation at being snubbed by the Turkish president and her own colleague, the President of the European Council, shows the need to have one clear recognisable leader for the EU

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission: ‘The entire experience was a fiasco, but also revealed a set of attitudes that is simply unacceptable. Picture: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

In the midst of a pandemic which has ravaged Europe, it may seem odd that the minds of many leaders and commentators in Brussels are being exercised by the fact that Ursula von der Leyen was left sitting on a sofa at a recent meeting with the president of Turkey.

At first glance it seems a trivial affair, a minor snub to the European Commission president, who ought to have bigger and better issues to ...