Kiss for Baerbock: Croatia's foreign minister apologizes
After a kiss for Annalena Baerbock that was deemed inappropriate by the audience, Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman has apologized. He was not immediately aware that he had possibly embarrassed his German counterpart with the friendly gesture at the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Berlin on Thursday. "Maybe it was an awkward moment," Radman said, according to Croatian media. "If anyone saw anything bad in it, then I apologize to whoever took it that way."
Due to the delay of his plane, he only saw Baerbock at the "family photo" with all his EU colleagues, Radman continued. "I don't know what the problem was. I didn't see it; I wasn't aware of it. We always greet each other warmly. It's a warm human interaction between colleagues."
An awkward greeting?
Video footage of the incident had shown Radman trying to kiss Baerbock while the "family photo" was being taken and Baerbock quickly turning away to the side. The "Bild" newspaper first reported on the incident. According to "Bild", Baerbock's entourage said it was an awkward attempt to greet each other quickly.
The Croatian is now being accused on social networks, among other things, of publicly embarrassing a German government politician and shaming his country. "Forcibly kissing women is also called violence, isn't it?" wrote Croatia's former Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor (2009-2011) on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
- Despite being unaware of the potential embarrassment, EU foreign ministers, including Germany's Annalena Baerbock and Croatia's Gordan Grlic Radman, often greet each other warmly during meetings.
- The international incident involving Gordan Grlic Radman, the Croatian foreign minister, occurred when he attempted to kiss Baerbock during a group photo at the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Berlin.
- Controversy surrounding the incident at the EU meeting has led to accusations against Radman, including allegations of publicly embarrassing the German government politician Annalena Baerbock and shaming his own country.
Source: www.dpa.com
