In the week that Luis Rubiales was disqualified for three years, the former Spanish Football Federation president found himself at the center of controversy kissed without the consent of national player Jenni Hermoso after winning the Women’s World Cup – another “Kiss gate“ will cause discussions in the next few days. No longer limited to the world of football, but to that of institutional European politics. It starts with a report from the “Tagesschau”, the news program on Germany’s first public television channel, which reports what happened immediately after a meeting of European interior and foreign ministers on Thursday in Berlin. During the group photo was actually the head of Croatian diplomacy and foreign minister, Gordan Grlic-RadmanShe tried to give her German counterpart a “kiss on the mouth”. Annalena BaerbockThis resulted in a case that “caused a stir in Croatia”. All by attaching a video that was posted on Instagram pages and quickly went viral on social media. Open the sky.
Protests in Croatia
Croatian media expressly speak of an “embarrassing moment” and women’s rights activists attack Grlic-Radman head-on and accuse him of disrespect, writes the “Tagesschau” website. Croatian and Bosnian television and newspapers referred to the episode as “unpleasant to see”, “a fiasco” and they comment on the moment in which – as can also be seen in a newly released video discomfort“, writes the Zagreb newspaper “Jutarnji list”. But that’s not enough. Women’s rights activist Rada Boric spoke of a “completely inappropriate gesture”, another accused the minister of a lack of decency and respect, MP Ivana Kekin said that Grlic-Radman had shamed not only himself, but all Croats. Some even brought up harassment: Former Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor wrote on X that “forcible kissing of women is also mentioned.” ViolenceIt is not true?”.
The apology after the kiss attempt
Meanwhile, Grlic-Radman firmly denied the allegations, claiming in a subsequent press conference that he had wanted to greet a colleague in a “humane” way, as “ministers always greet each other warmly.” Adding: “Nobody said anything to me after that so I don’t know what the problem was. It was a friendly and humane interaction and it would have been the same with a colleague.” However, the minister wanted to get his own opinion Excuse me For his gesture towards those offended: Baerbock has not yet commented on the incident, as the “Tagesschau” reported in the late afternoon. In any case, at the time of the Rubiales case, he stated: “Imagine if Angela Merkel If he had kissed Philipp Lahm like that in 2014, all hell would have broken out and I think that says it all.”
EU ministerial summit in Berlin Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic-Radman tried to kiss his German colleague Annalena Bärbock, which turned out to be embarrassing, writes the German newspaper Bild. Some even called it one
sexual harassment. pic.twitter.com/emGm83XMjc— Nadia Cecchin (@cecchin1_nadia) November 4, 2023