Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman on Friday (Nov 3) courted controversy after making an awkward attempt to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock while the two leaders posed for a group photograph in Berlin.
In a video that went viral on social media, Radman, 65, can be seen reaching out to Baerbock in an attempt to shake hands with her and trying to plant a kiss on her cheek during a photo shoot at a European Union conference on Thursday (Nov 2).
During the awkward encounter, the German foreign affairs minister. in the video, could be seen dodging his affections.
Radman’s gesture sparked fierce debate on the internet and prompted outrage from feminist groups.
However, the Croatian foreign minister shrugged off the criticism saying that this was “a warm human approach to a fellow colleague”.
“I don’t know what the problem was… We always greet each other warmly. It is a warm human approach to a colleague”, he told reporters.
Croatian women’s rights activist slams Radman’s move
Notable Croatian women’s rights activist Rada Boric denounced the minister’s move calling it “highly inappropriate”.
Taking a dig at Radman’s response to the criticism, Boric said that “warm greetings” should happen only among those whose relationship allows kissing.
“It’s clear that such a relationship doesn’t exist here and that the (German) minister was left surprised with such closeness,” Boric told the Jutarnji List outlet.
Former Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor also took to her official social media handle and lambasted Radman.
“Violent kissing of women is also called violence, is it not?,” Kosor wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
(With inputs from agencies)
