A SPOKESMAN for the European Commission has apologised for a comment posted by its Facebook account which appeared to belittle Germany’s controversial EU commissioner Gunther Oettinger.
The official Facebook page for the Commission’s offices in Ireland this morning posted a clarification from Oettinger, who had been reported as favouring a proposal to have Ireland’s flags fly at half-mast at EU buildings.
“In the interview I did not propose this idea, nor did I support it,” Oettinger’s statement said. “Moreover, I did not refer to any particular country.”
A number of comments – criticial of Oettinger’s comments in spite of the clarification – were posted afterwards, to which the Commission’s account replied:
Apparently the Commissioner has ‘form’ in the foot in mouth department.
The comment was removed shortly after TheJournal.ie called to seek clarification on the comment.
A spokesman for the commission’s offices said the comment was “not an official remark from the commission” – and explained that someone from the office had “got a bit excited”.
Oettinger’s reported remarks are set to be discussed in the Dáil later today when it holds its first-ever discussion on ‘topical issues’.
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