An alleged “kiss attack” by Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman on German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has caused outrage. The minister’s behavior was “highly inappropriate”, women’s rights activist Rada Boric told the newspaper “Jutarnij list” yesterday. “Forcibly kissing women is also called violence, isn’t it?” asked former prime minister Jadranka Kosor on Twitter (X).
Grlic Radman, 65, apparently tried to kiss Baerbock on Thursday during a group photo on the sidelines of a conference of European foreign ministers in Berlin. Video footage circulating online shows him initially reaching out to shake Baerbock, but suddenly leaning forward. The German Foreign Minister quickly turned her head.
Nasilno ljubljenje žena isto se zove nasilje, right?
-Jadranka Kosor (@_Jadranka_Kosor) November 3, 2023
The Croatian Foreign Minister told journalists that he “doesn’t know what the problem is”: “We always greet each other warmly. This is a warm rapprochement between colleagues.” Women’s rights activist Boric, however, criticized that the video “clearly shows that there is no such relationship here and that the minister was surprised by such a rapprochement”.