Croatian FM accused of inappropriate act attempt with German FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Nov 2023 16:59

Cameras captured Grlic-Radman, who is 65 years old, reaching out to hold Baerbock's hand and seemingly attempting to kiss her, but the German minister quickly moved away to avoid his advances.

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman tries giving German counterpart Annalena Baerbock a kiss during a family photo at an EU ministerial conference. (screengrab)

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman is facing allegations of displaying inappropriate behavior and a lack of familiarity with diplomatic etiquette due to an uncomfortable endeavor to kiss his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock.

The incident, which was captured in widely circulated video clips on social media, took place during a group photo session with the attendees of an EU ministerial meeting in Berlin on Thursday.

Cameras captured Grlic-Radman, who is 65 years old, reaching out to hold Baerbock's hand and seemingly attempting to kiss her, but the German minister quickly moved away to avoid his advances. Baerbock is 42 years old.

🇭🇷 🇩🇪 Croatian Foreign Minister, Gordan Grlic-Radman, found himself in an awkward situation at the EU ministerial summit in Berlin, when he made an ill-advised attempt to kiss his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock. pic.twitter.com/sA7vKWPjDW
— dan mutungi (@dannmuts) November 4, 2023

The German tabloid Bild characterized the incident as a "smooch attack" by Baerbock's Croatian counterpart. According to the publication, she swiftly turned away to avoid being kissed, displaying lightning-fast reflexes.

According to Bild, the awkward situation unfolded because Grlic-Radman arrived late for the photo session after the other ministers had already exchanged greetings and kisses. Members of Baerbock's team conveyed to the newspaper that the incident was simply a clumsy attempt to quickly greet each other.

The unsuccessful kiss attempt triggered considerable outrage in Croatia, with one of the nation's prominent newspapers, Jutarnji List, running a headline that read "Shame" and asserting that Grlic-Radman should issue an apology to the German politician.

Croatian women's rights activist Rada Boric expressed to the newspaper that Grlic-Radman's conduct was "extremely inappropriate" and highlighted that Baerbock appeared to be genuinely taken aback by such an unexpected display of intimacy.