"There were complaints to that effect and I requested a report which showed that such a claim was not correct," Josipovic said when asked to comment on claims that Karamarko was using intelligence structures in his campaign for the HDZ president.
Commenting on the HDZ intra-party elections due tomorrow, Josipovic said that he, as a person who must not concern himself with political parties and their internal matters, expected the elections to be held in a democratic atmosphere, with high democratic standards.
"After that, it's to be expected that regardless of who is elected, a consolidated HDZ will play a very active opposition role today and at future elections, who knows? It's very important that the centre-right has a strong and credible party and I hope tomorrow's elections will help with that," the president said during a customary meeting with citizens.
Asked what he expected of a current visit of Chinese business people, Josipovic said China and Croatia had very good long-standing relations and that now was the chance to turn the excellent political relations into political cooperation.
"China is one of the most propulsive economies and has huge investment potential. I expect this to be a concrete step towards Chinese investment in Croatia as well as a key for opening Chinese doors to our products."
Josipovic said he supported a recent visit by Finance Minister Slavko Linic and Economy Minister Radimir Cacic to London, saying Croatia "should open its doors as wide as possible."
"Small economies like us can be successful only if they are open. There's no gain in being closed and focusing only on oneself."
Commenting on forecasts of a GDP decline by some economic experts and institutions, Josipovic said they were based on specific indicators and that he always took them seriously, both when they were favourable as well as less favourable.
"We have seen more favourable projections as well, but they are only projections and it's up to us how it will be in the end," he said. "We have seen so far that the results have been much better, but also worse than what such predictions said."
Speaking of an upcoming NATO summit in Chicago and the situation in Afghanistan, the president said that Croatia, like other countries, would downsize its troops in Afghanistan, replacing its current participation with some other forms of assistance there. "Even today we are primarily oriented on the support and education of the Afghan security forces, and the number of our troops there won't increase."
Josipovic said he was satisfied with the cooperation with NATO. "We are participating in joint operations and we have proved to be good, despite the fact that the Croatian army has objective financing problems."