Foreign Minister Grlić Radman wanted to kiss his German counterpart Baerbock on camera. This caused him outrage in Croatia, where he was already under political pressure.
Belgrade/Zagreb. Croatian media reacted with criticism and malice: “He shamed himself and all Croatians,” wrote the portal dvevno.hr over the weekend. Reason for outrage: Foreign Minister Goran Grlić Radman’s attempt to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in front of the cameras at the last meeting of EU foreign ministers in Berlin.
Only Baerbock’s quick reaction, who turned his head away in time, prevented the attempt to approach. The images of the 65-year-old Croatian minister, who tried to return the handshake of his colleague who is 23 years younger with a kiss during the “family photo” of EU foreign ministers, caused embarrassment among his compatriots. “Please excuse me, Minister Baerbock”, was the contrite headline in the Zagreb newspaper “Jutarnji List”. tportal.hr wrote about the “Berlin Fiasco”.
The Croatian Foreign Minister tried to defend himself: “We ministers always greet each other very warmly, as colleagues.” But “maybe” it was an “inappropriate moment”, at least the former ambassador to Berlin admits, repentant: “If someone did something bad, I should see it, I apologize to those who interpreted it that way.”
At home, the minister is increasingly in trouble. He had already entered the top three most unpopular politicians for the first time in the latest survey by the CRO-Demoskop Institute in October. His low popularity ratings have to do with his “forgetfulness” in disclosing his private assets, which all dignitaries in Croatia are obliged to do. He did not report income from the shareholding he inherited from his father in the agricultural group Agroproteinka, specializing in biogas and the use of animal carcasses. Since he took office in 2019, the forgotten minister has collected at least 2.1 million euros in dividends.
Vote of no confidence rejected
As the government granted the family business additional millions in subsidies due to increased workload due to rampant swine fever in Slavonia, the opposition felt a conflict of interest – and tabled a vote of no confidence against Grlić Radman in October. Ultimately, the proposal was defeated with the help of the government’s conservative majority. The career diplomat happily said that he enjoyed his position as foreign minister so much that he would like to continue doing so for another “hundred years”.