Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman sparked a row when he tried to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on her lips during an EU summit group photo session. Radman later apologised for his conduct.
Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman has come under fire after making an awkward attempt to kiss his German counterpart during a group photo session for a European Union (EU) conference in Berlin, New York Post reported.
In a video which went viral on social media, 65-year-old Radman simultaneously reaches out to shake hands with Germany's Annalena Baerbock and leans in for her lips to plant a kiss during the photo session.
But Baerbock, 42, politely offers Radman a peck on her cheek and turns straight towards the camera for the photograph. After that, the German Foreign Minister is seen giggling nervously as she poses for the photograph.
After the photo session finished, Baerbock took a step away from Radman and turned to talk to someone behind him. The Croatian Foreign Minister continued to stare at her, New York Post reported.
When Radman tried to kiss Baerbock, the remaining dignitaries who were present at the photo session seemed unfazed by the encounter.
The incident sparked a row with prominent Croatian women’s rights activist Rada Boric describing Radman's move as "highly inappropriate". She said "warm greetings" became out of place in professional relationships.
The incident sparked a row with prominent Croatian women’s rights activist Rada Boric describing Radman's move as "highly inappropriate". She said "warm greetings" became out of place in professional relationships.
"It’s clear that such a relationship doesn’t exist here and that the (German) minister was left surprised with such closeness," Boric told local outlet Jutarnji List.
In a post written on X, former Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, without mentioning Radman's name, lashed out over the incident. "Kissing women violently is also called violence, isn’t it?" she wrote in Croatian.
Facing heat, Radman played down the controversy, claiming he was only trying to "warmly" greet his German counterpart. According to the German press agency, DPA, he has apologised for his conduct.
"I don’t know what the problem was. We always greet each other warmly. It is a warm human approach to a colleague," he said.
"Maybe it was an awkward moment. If someone saw something bad in it, then I apologise to whoever took it that way," he was quoted as saying by Croatian media.
Baerbock has not commented on the incident so far.
0 Comments