The attempted kiss was “maybe an awkward moment”, the 65-year-old minister said, offering an apology to “whoever took it that way”.
Ms Baerbock has yet to comment on the incident.
Backlash to kiss
Footage of the encounter was shared widely online, where Mr Grlic-Radman’s behaviour provoked an immediate backlash.
Rada Boric, a prominent Croatian women’s rights activist, said the attempted kiss was “highly inappropriate”.
Mr Grlic-Radman was also criticised by Jadranka Kosor, a former prime minister of Croatia, who wrote on social media: “Violent kissing of women is also called violence, is it not?”
The incident has drawn comparisons with Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish Football Federation, kissing womens player Jenni Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in the World Cup final in August.
Mr Rubiales dismissed suggestions that the gesture was inappropriate, saying “it was a kiss between two friends celebrating something”.
But Irene Montero, the minister for equality in Spain’s caretaker government, described it as “a form of sexual violence”.
Last month Mr Rubiales was banned from all football-related activities for three years, following a FIFA disciplinary committee investigation into his conduct.
Ms Hermoso said in a statement released in August that the incident had left her feeling “vulnerable and a victim of aggression,” describing the kiss as “sexist and without any type of consent on my part”.
