Seating plan headache

Emmanuel Macron’s plans for a new European Political Community were almost thrown into disarray by disagreements over where each of the 44 leaders would sit at the summit. The new forum of European Union and non-EU nations, the brainchild of the French President, began in Prague yesterday. But officials admitted that finding the right seating plan was a major headache, forcing hours of talks between senior diplomats because of long-standing and new disputes between the countries attending.