Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, found herself in the awkward position of being almost completely ignored by a dignitary attending the EU's Africa summit.
The unpleasant lapse, in which Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo appeared to walk past von der Leyen took place at a photo op, with Odongo apparently offering only a little acknowledgment and no handshake to the Commission president.
Odongo walked past von der Leyen at the Africa summit meet and greet before shaking hands with European Council President Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron. He then took his spot in the group portrait between von der Leyen and Michel.
The gaffe was largely avoided this time when Macron stepped in and allegedly told Odongo that he might want to greet the Commission president.
For some, the incident brought to mind uneasy parallels with the "Sofagate" diplomatic protocol breach in Turkey last year.
In that event, Michel and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sat in elegant chairs next to each other, while von der Leyen sat on a sofa. Later, von der Leyen explained, "It happened because I am a woman."
Michel admitted then that he might have made a mistake when he sat down despite the lack of a chair for his colleague and expressed regret for the situation.
The poignancy of the situation was given by Turkey's withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention for the Protection of Women, for which it has been criticized in the EU.