'Who Keeps Farting In Press Briefing Room'?: How A 'Phantom Farter' Took Centre Stage At EU Summit

While journalists were keen on covering Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s high-stakes European Union summit in Brussels, they found themselves chasing something beyond news.

Amid deepening tensions with Russia, Zelenskyy landed in Brussels this week to attend a high-stakes summit with European allies. While the stage was set for key discussions on the Russia-Ukraine war and its global impacts, attendees found themselves distracted by something that was out of the blue: a bizarre smell repeatedly driving journalists out of the European Council press briefing room.

The unusual episode became a talking point on the internet, with netizens asking: Who keeps farting in the press briefing room?

This is not the end of the story.

Journalists, who

were covering the event, faced a similar situation during a diplomatic briefing the previous evening, when an “eye-watering emission” forced them to run out of the room.

‘Who Is The Fantom Farter’? 

Political economy analyst and correspondent Shankkar Aiyar, who was covering the event, described the episode as “hilarious”.

Apparently, it must have been less amusing for those affected by the incident.

Writing on X, Aiyar said: “Hilarious! Who is the phantom farter? Reporters waiting for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the European Council press briefing room have repeatedly been forced to deal with a fetid farter in their midst.”

“It isn’t the first time either, with several journalists (including this correspondent) forced to flee a diplomatic briefing last night after an eye-watering emission. Everyone is running on nothing but coffee and the fear of missing out on a briefing, so we suppose it is to be expected”, he added.

Aiyar joked that he had wished the “mystery malodorer” had taken themselves outside instead of subjecting attendees to the ordeal.

“Still, one can’t help but wish the mystery malodorer would take themselves outside and sort it out before people pass out”, he wrote.

Politico Europe, in a post on X, flagged the mystery with a simple question: “Who keeps farting in the European Council press briefing room?”

Soon, a wave of hilarious responses poured in.

“That writer is obviously the phantom farter. I don’t make the rules”, a user wrote.

“A new way of Russian hybrid warfare?” joked another user.

“I was nowhere near the place, honest”, a third joined.