Croatian Foreign Minister causes controversy over photo of 'forced kiss' with German counterpart

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman tries to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in this photo taken at the EU foreign ministers' meeting

The clip, posted by AFP on November 4, shows Mr. Radman, 65, grabbing Ms. Baerbock, 42,’s hand and trying to kiss her. The German foreign minister quickly responded by turning her face away.

The incident occurred while foreign ministers attending the European Union (EU) conference in Berlin (Germany) were standing in position to take the traditional group photo.

Bild newspaper said the embarrassing situation occurred because Mr Radman arrived late after the other foreign ministers had already exchanged kisses. Members of the Baerbock delegation assured them that the incident was just "a clumsy gesture to greet each other quickly".

However, the clip quickly spread online and led to unfavorable opinions towards the Croatian Foreign Minister, especially public opinion in his country.

Jutarnji List , Croatia's leading newspaper, headlined the incident "Shameful" and insisted that Mr Radman should apologize to his female counterpart.

"Isn't forcibly kissing a woman also called violence?", former Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor wrote on X (Twitter 's name).

MP Ivana Kekin of the Croatian parliament's gender equality committee said what happened once again demonstrated Mr Radman's "lack of diplomatic skills, knowledge of basic protocol and protocol".

Facing criticism, Mr Radman said "if anyone found this inappropriate, I apologize", but maintained that there was nothing unusual about kissing the German Foreign Minister as recently happened.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/ngoai-truong-croatia-gay-tranh-cai-vi-hinh-anh-cuong-hon-nguoi-dong-cap-duc-185231104185023129.htm