European Council president Charles Michel faces calls to resign over sexist 'Sofagate' incident

Women’s organisations have called on Charles Michel to resign after the European Council president apologised for the “sofagate” incident that embarrassed Ursula von der Leyen.

Mr Michel was strongly criticised for failing to insist that the European Commission president was seated alongside him and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a visit to the country.

Mrs von der Leyen was forced to sit on a nearby sofa after only two chairs were provided for the trilateral talks in Ankara, which covered, among other things, gender equality.

The first female president of the European Commission raised a hand in disbelief when she found Mr Michel had taken the only chair available next to the Turkish President.

Mr Michel said he had suffered “sleepless nights” since his gaffe but claimed insisting on a seat for Mrs von der Leyen could have been patronising.

“I haven’t been sleeping well since the sofa incident. The movie keeps running through my mind,” he told a group of European newspapers.

“I take my share of responsibility for the incident,” he said. “Ursula von der Leyen conveyed the message about women’s and human rights to the Turks. If I had stepped in to offer a chair, it might have come across as patronising.”

European women's groups have now written to Mr Michel and demanded he step down.

A petition launched by the Millenia Foundation, an international organisation working for women’s empowerment and equality, got more than 2,500 signatures in less than two days in Belgium, France, and Italy, the Brussels Times website reported.

The petition accused Mr Michel of committing “three major errors” in terms of diplomacy, the EU and human rights that it said were affront to Ms Von der Leyen and “to all women.”

Mr Michel and Mrs von der Leyen are set to meet in Brussels on Monday to discuss how to avoid similar problems in the future.