Speaking at a press conference in Zagreb, Josipovic said that he had discussed the situation with Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic following press reports that Croatia had sold arms to Syrian insurgents, which the Croatian government has denied.

"Such allegations have substantially changed the position of our troops on the ground, who are there together with troops from other countries serving in a mission that is based on the presumption of neutrality, in the sense that the warring parties consider us neutral," Josipovic said and added: "This increases the risk of attack. There have been several incidents in recent months."

Josipovic said that he and Milanovic had concluded that it was necessary to pull out the Croatian troops from Syria for their protection and for the protection of the troops from the partner countries. "We believe that this is also fair towards our partners in that mission."

Josipovic said there were two options under the law. One was that the government can propose that the Croatian Parliament pass a resolution on withdrawal, after which the President would issue a formal decision to that effect. However, since Parliament is not in session next week, Josipovic said he would consider the other option, notably that he, acting in his capacity as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, would himself issue such a decision which would later be submitted to Parliament for verification.