President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker stumbled at the NATO summit on Wednesday due to the effects of sciatica, his spokesperson stated on Friday, denying rumors that the EU leader was inebriated, reports Independent.
In a video shared on social media, the sixty-three-year-old Juncker stumbles and loses his balance before the gala dinner held as part of the NATO summit in Brussels.
Among others, he was assisted by the Presidents of Finland Sauli Niinisto and Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, and at one point, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte had to step in to help.
Juncker “publicly stated that he suffers from sciatica, which often hinders his normal movement. This affected him on Wednesday as well,” spokesperson for the EC Margaritis Schinas said at a press conference in Brussels.
“The President wants to publicly thank Dutch and Portuguese Prime Ministers Mark Rutte and Antonio Costa for helping him at a time when he was in the most pain. He is now taking medication and feels much better,” Schinas explained.
When asked by journalists if Juncker was drunk, Schinas replied that it is “quite tasteless that some media publish offensive headlines and articles mocking the pain” of the President of the European Commission.
