One of the basic missions of the Croatian Armed Forces is to participate in crisis response operations abroad, but always within NATO, the UN, EU or other coalition forces and in accordance with Croatia's interests and capabilities, the statement said.
Any use of Croatian Armed Forces personnel or individuals must be in accordance with Croatian laws and the regulations of international organisations under whose leadership Croatian troops are placed, it added.
Croatian servicemen are participating in nine UN peace-making or peace-keeping missions worldwide (India/Pakistan, Ethiopia/Erithrea, Sudan, Georgia, Cyprus, Western Sahara, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Haiti) and in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.
The statement was prompted by an article in a Croatian newspaper published under the headline "Croatian officer killed in Iraq". The ministry believes that the headline implies the presence of Croatian military personnel in Iraq and therefore confuses the Croatian public.
The ministry offered its condolences to the family of Croatian national Zeljko Both, a former Croatian Army serviceman who was killed in an ambush on a convoy in Baghdad on Wednesday.
The statement said that Both was a model serviceman from 1993 to 2003, when he left the service as a junior officer at his own request. He was awarded several decorations for his contribution to the 1991-1995 Homeland War and the postwar development of the Croatian Armed Forces.