Croatian foreign minister sparks controversy after he tried to kiss his German counterpart while posing for a group photograph in Berlin

Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman has sparked controversy after he was caught on camera trying to kiss his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock as he posed for a group photo in Berlin.

The video shows Radman, 65, reaching out to Baerbock, 42, to shake her hand and attempt to kiss her on the cheek during a photo shoot at an EU conference on Thursday, as the German foreign minister fumbles her head turns away from him.

The gesture sparked fierce debate on social media and sparked outrage among feminist groups, but Grlic Radman shrugged off the criticism.

‘I don’t know what the problem was… We always greet each other warmly. It is a warm human approach from a colleague,” he told reporters.

Ms Baerbock has not yet commented on the incident which the German media has dubbed ‘Kuss-Attacke’ – the ‘kissing attack’.

Ms Baerbock has not yet commented on the incident, which has been dubbed the ‘kissing attack’ by German media.

Radman has insisted he made a “warm, human approach to a colleague” by trying to kiss her

It comes just days after Luis Rubiales, the former head of Spain’s football federation, was banned from the sport for three years for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the mouth as she and her teammates won the Women’s World Cup.

Radman said he was not immediately aware that he had embarrassed his German colleague by being overly friendly.

“Maybe it was an awkward moment,” Radman said.

“If anyone saw anything bad in it, I apologize to whoever took it that way.”

However, prominent Croatian women’s rights activist Rada Boric labeled the minister’s move as “very inappropriate” and added that “warm greetings” should only take place among those whose relationship allows kissing.

“It is clear that such a relationship does not exist here and that the (German) minister was surprised by this closeness,” Boric told the Jutarnji List channel.

Former Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor also used social media to criticize Grlic Radman.

“Forceful kissing of women is also called violence, isn’t it?” Kosor wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Unlike the French and the Italians, Slavic Croats are known to be more reserved in their greetings.

A travel guide for visitors to the country states: ‘Greetings with kisses, one on each cheek, are usually reserved for family or close friends.’

Although Ms Baerbock has not commented on the kiss, sources close to the minister tried to downplay the incident, telling the German tabloid Image that her counterpart was late and had simply been clumsy.

It is assumed that they are on first name terms.