Zelensky Should Not Have Sat in the Front Row at the Pope's Funeral, Media Says

The Vatican violated protocol by allowing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sit in the front row during the funeral ceremony of Pope Francis I, alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, reports the British newspaper The Telegraph.

The newspaper states that the Vatican seemed to have taken special measures to ensure that Zelensky was in a prominent position during the ceremony, where most leaders were seated according to the alphabetical order of their countries' names, regardless of whether they were heads of state or government.

It is noted that the rules required world leaders to be seated in alphabetical order according to their country's name in French, which is the traditional diplomatic language used for formal protocols. As President of Ukraine, Zelensky could have expected to sit in the third row or even further back. Instead, he was seated in the front row, just 11 seats away from Trump, who was sitting on his right side.

Between Zelensky and Trump were, among others, the Presidents of India, Hungary, Gabon, Macron and his wife Brigitte, as well as Finnish President Alexander Stubb.