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Croatian president confused with reality star Coco Austin

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January 4, 2016 at 6:41 p.m. EST
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic (left) and Prime Minister designate Tihomir Oreskovic arrive to a joint press conference in Zagreb on Dec. 23, 2015. The Internet mistook bikini photos of Coco Austin for her. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
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Aside from Russian president/male model Vladmir Putin, it’s unusual to see a head of state in skimpy beachwear — but recently, pics purportedly showing Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović in a bikini began popping up all over social media.

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But before there could be a mass international exodus to Dubrovnik, (some posts had captions like “Goshhhh next time make me Croatian citizen” and “Croatian President, new crush alert”), some savvy posters noted that the pics weren’t all of Grabar-Kitarović, who is a Fulbright scholar and former Croatian ambassador to the United States. Some were actually photos of Coco Austin, the voluptuous model and wife of rapper Ice-T.

According to People, news sites in South Africa and the Philippines posted the photos of Austin, claiming they were of the president. Both later issued corrections.

Unclear what prompted the mix-up, but the photos started appearing not long after a Croatian human rights committee leader’s pants fell down while he was posing with Grabar-Kitarović for a photo.

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