Speaking to the press during a traditional meeting with members of the public in his office, Josipovic said that he had put forward amendments to the Defence Act and the Military Service Act proposing that the provisions of the two laws relating to the role of the President of the Republic should remain unchanged and that the armed forces should stay outside party politics.

"I can say with great pleasure that I received full support both from Prime Minister Milanovic and the military leadership for these most important provisions which concern civilian supervision of the military and removal of any party politics in conducing military affairs," the President said.

Responding to questions from the press, Josipovic dismissed statements by unnamed government sources that were quoted by media as saying that he had demanded greater powers. He noted that those were not government sources at all. "And also this story about divisions within the military. There are no divisions. The military leadership is united and supports the concept of civilian supervision of the military and the complete separation of the military from party politics," he added.

Denying the media reports that his relationship with the Prime Minister was upset, Josipovic said that he and Milanovic were discussing things regularly. "We, of course, do not necessarily agree on everything, but that is very far from any conflict and certainly not on a scale speculated by the unnamed sources," he said.

Josipovic noted that he had not demanded any greater powers for himself but that the existing ones should not be reduced. "It is not even a matter of powers, but a matter of the concept of leading the Armed Forces and their separation from politics," he added.

The President also commented on a letter in which the civil society organisation "In the Name of the Family" had asked him to explain to the public and the government the significance of a referendum on introducing a provision in the Constitution saying that marriage is a union between a woman and a man.

Josipovic said that there was no need for any organisation to push him into the public foreground in that way, adding that referenda and other similar procedures were regulated by laws and the Constitution and that that should be respected. "I have said very clearly that Croatia must be a country of equal opportunity for all its citizens, and the same goes for non-discrimination with regard to sex, sexual orientation and gender orientation. Whether that will be done in this way or that, it is up to the government to decide," he concluded.