00:00 Croatia's Foreign Minister Gordon Ramdan got mad and heavy scrutiny due to his attempt
00:07 to kiss German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on a live telecast.
00:11 During an EU enlargement conference in Berlin, Gordon Ramdan, aged 65, went for a kiss after
00:17 having handshake with German Foreign Minister Baerbock.
00:20 The German Foreign Minister, acting wisely, turned her head, laughing it off.
00:24 However, cameras captured the moment, drawing attention to the awkward encounter.
00:28 Ever since the incident happened, women's rights activists and the German media have
00:32 not taken the incident lightly.
00:34 The incident has caused a stir in Germany, where Croatia's Foreign Minister was criticised
00:38 heavily by several public figures, whereas it was dubbed as a "kiss attack" by well-known
00:43 German tabloids.
00:44 Furthermore, women's rights activists accused Ramdan of "inappropriate behaviour".
00:48 "It's a completely inappropriate gesture," prominent Croatian women's rights activist
00:52 and former lawmaker Rada Borek told media.
00:55 These comments were echoed by Croatia's former women Prime Minister Jadranka Koso, who questioned,
01:00 "Isn't the forced kissing of a woman called violence, isn't it?"
01:03 In the end, Ramdan apologised for his behaviour.
01:06 However, he still reminded everyone that his actions were not entirely wrong.
01:11 "We ministers always reach each other cordially.
01:14 If someone saw something bad in that, then apologies to whoever took it that way," he
01:18 said, adding to his diplomatic offering might have turned just awkward.
01:22 Meanwhile, Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, has said nothing about
01:27 the situation in the meantime.
01:29 But this episode has immensely damaged the 65-year-old foreign minister's reputation.
01:34 Why exactly was such a gesture necessary, no one has a resolute answer.
01:38 However, his political career has already been harmed by the public outcry.
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