The daily Politika said that "the erection of the monument was condemned by everyone, from the government to the Catholic Church".
"The response by the public and politicians (...) was quite appropriate and in place, just as is expected from a country claiming to be founded on the principles of anti-Fascism and the antifascist struggle during the Second World War, a country that is making an all-out effort to join present European integration processes," the newspaper said.
Politika quoted the head of the municipality of Lovinac, where the monument was erected, as saying that "the monument was raised by emigrants who rate low with the Croatian expatriate community, with the secret support of the local branch of the HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union)."
Hrvoje Racic was also quoted as saying that his municipality "has earned a bad name now that the process of development has begun."
The article went on to say that Croatia "seems to be the only country where monuments are freely erected to the memory of local fascist quislings after a large number of monuments to antifascist fighters have been destroyed" and that this was "not good for the country's international image".
Politika concluded its article with a question asking, "Is Croatia serious about what it has been saying so loudly and convincingly?"
Another newspaper, Glas Javnosti, carried a report by the Tanjug news agency saying that Croatian Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks described the monument as "an act of provocation aimed at politically destabilising Croatia".