Search icon

Politics

09th Oct 2018

Jean-Claude Juncker denies mocking Theresa May by dancing before speech

The president of the European Commission threw his own Maybot at the beginning of a speech on Monday

Oli Dugmore

Jean-Claude Juncker

The president of the European Commission threw his own Maybot at the beginning of a speech on Monday

Jean-Claude Juncker denies mocking Theresa May after bopping behind a lectern at the start of a speech on Monday.

The president of the European Commission’s dance was similarly robotic to the Prime Minister’s ABBA entrance, with a little more je ne sais quoi, ahead of a speech opening the “week of regions and cities.”

After a reporter for the Telegraph accused Juncker of mocking May, a Commission spokesperson hit back on Twitter, telling them to “relax” and “Without a song or a dance what would our life be?”

Which itself echoes an ABBA lyric from ‘Thank You For The Music’: “What would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we?”

Good chat imo.

The spokesperson said Juncker’s jig was “not directed at anyone” and an “improvisation on the moment as the music kept playing before he could start his speech.”

“Great respect for Theresa May, repeatedly stated in public and demonstrated in practice.”

You may recall the British Prime Minister lambasting Juncker, and the EU generally, for a total lack of “respect” after the president said her Chequers plan “will not work.”

The PM said: “I have treated the EU with nothing but respect, the UK expects the same.” The speech followed president of the EU Council Donald Tusk Instagramming a pic of him offering a piece of cake to May with the caption: “Sorry – no cherries.”