He was commenting for the press on the recent removal of bilingual Latin and Cyrillic signs from public buildings in Vukovar, Udbina and Vojnic.
"This must stop," he said. "A policy which divides children in kindergartens, which puts young people in a cafe for Croats and a cafe for Serbs, in which young people don't talk, don't socialise, in which people frown upon each other because they are of this or that ethnicity, is not a good policy. And I do expect us all to build a different policy, a policy that unites and doesn't separate people."
Asked how the "irreconcilable sides" could be reconciled, the president said the law on national minorities' rights must be respected but that "one can always talk about modalities."
Talks are possible, the government has a key role in this "and I am here to help everyone who wants me to help," he added.
Josipovic would not say "who is to blame" for the current situation. "When the problem is solved, we will analyse what happened," he said, announcing that he would present his initiatives. "They will be public and we will talk about them the moment I see any willingness for dialogue."
The president said everything that was happening recently with the removal of bilingual signs was unacceptable and "a shame for us all." He called on the government, the opposition and war veterans to defend the dignity of Croatia as a European country so that "the story of the Cyrillic script doesn't turn into a story of Croatia's failure."
He said many statesmen and diplomats were asking him "what's going on," recalling his recent meeting with Pope Francis who "spoke of reconciliation and ecumenism."
Josipovic said he was going to Serbia in a couple of days to talk with President Tomislav Nikolic and the Croatian national minority.
"The Croatian anthem will play, the Croatian flag will fly and foreign statesmen will again ask me, 'What kind of a state are you in which this is happening?' It's simply hard to accept after gaining our independence in blood and showing with a lot of hard work that Croatia is a European country, a country of European values, and to watch what is going on in Croatia. Today Vukovar, yesterday Udbina, tomorrow something else. Signs, monuments. What next? Will someone's head be broken tomorrow?"
"It is time we all together understood that we are fighting for a European Croatia in which people will live well, in which we will respect one another," Josipovic said.
"I'm calling first and foremost on the government, I'm calling on the opposition, I'm calling on the veterans who so ardently defended Croatia to defend its dignity too and to defend it as a European country. We are all responsible and mustn't let the story of the Cyrillic script turn into a story of Croatia's failure."
Asked to comment on the call by Serb People's Council (SNV) president Milorad Pupovac on the authorities and the opposition "not to play with fire," the president said Pupovac should contribute to the resolution of the situation too.
He reiterated that this was not only about Cyrillic signs but a complex problem in inter-ethnic relations. "I spoke about it, warned about it. Unfortunately, it all boiled down to who said or didn't say what and where. We must think about where we are taking our relations and Mr. Pupovac and the SNV have a big part in this."