"Why, were you expecting martians?" he asked his interlocutor as he shared the table with EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and four other male worthies.

Topolanek, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, had no more to say on the subject, as the press conference descended into laughter.

However his Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek then offered an apology of sorts.

"I’m sorry," he said "I’m a feminist myself".

AFP / Expatica