Watch | Croatian foreign minister tries to kiss German counterpart, calls act ‘human approach’ amid row

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman stoked a massive controversy after a photo of him trying to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock during a group photo session in Berlin went viral online. In videos posted on social media, Radman was seen reaching out to Baerbock to shake her hand. Later, he tries to kiss her on the cheek but the latter dodges his affection. The incident occurred post an EU conference in the city.

Former Croatian prime minister Jadranka Kosor took to social media to criticise Radman over the incident. "Violent kissing of women is also called violence, is it not?," Kosor wrote in Croatian.

Responding to the incident, Radman said, “I don't know what the problem was... We always greet each other warmly. It is a warm human approach to a colleague.”

Croatian women's rights activist Rada Boric then slammed the minister and termed the incident as "highly inappropriate", adding that "warm greetings" should happen only among those whose relationship allows kissing.

READ | Spain's Luis Rubiales banned by FIFA for three years over Jenni Hermoso kiss

"It's clear that such a relationship doesn't exist here and that the (German) minister was left surprised with such closeness," Rada Boric told the Jutarnji List outlet.

Just a few months prior to this incident, Spain's soccer chief Luis Rubiales faced strong criticism for kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the Women's World Cup ceremony, an action she later expressed discomfort with.

Rubiales initially defended his actions .“The kiss was the same I could give one of my daughters,” Rubiales said. However, he apologised publicly later. Rubiales was suspended from his post by FIFA on Aug. 27.

(With inputs from AFP)

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.