Social Democratic Party (SDP) vice president Zeljka Antunovic said the SDP supported the decision to remove the monuments, but expressed regret that the decision was made during the night and the monuments were removed early in the morning. In her opinion the government should have taken a clear stand on one period of history and its figures. She stressed that unlike the Croatian Democratic Union, which was doing this to please the world, the SDP believed that a clear stand on historical periods and figures should be taken "because of ourselves". Asked why the former SDP-led government did not remove the monuments, Antunovic said the then opposition HDZ reacted to announcements of such actions by manipulating citizens and organising physical blockades which the government could fight only by using repression. "It was out assessment that it would be better to be patient and the assessment has proved correct," Antunovic said.
Because of its reputation and the wellbeing of its citizens Croatia no longer has the right to walk towards the future with its back turned," Croatian Peasant Party (HSS) president Zlatko Tomcic said, hailing the government's decision. The decision, however, was made incredibly late, Tomcic said and added that the rule of law should have stopped the erection of such monuments from the start.
"The government decision is a normal action which is in line with the Constitution," spokesman for the Croatian People's Party, Boris Blazekovic, said.
Croatian Party of Rights president (HSP) Anto Djapic, however, believes the decision to remove the said monuments was exclusively of political in nature. He said the government would have to assume political consequences. "It is that the two small plaques caused such a commotion in the government, given that the removal cannot be stopped now," Djapic said. The HSP leader believes that in line with the announced decision to ban the glorification of symbols of totalitarian regimes, the monument to Josip Broz Tito in his home town should also be removed. "Objectively speaking, Tito is responsible for the crime in Bleiburg on command and personal responsibility," Djapic said.
Libra party president Jozo Rados said the government had finally shown determination. He, however, does not expect polemics to stop after the removal of the two monuments.
The president of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), Milorad Pupovac, said his party requested the removal of the monument to Budak as soon as it was reported that it was erected. "This government is showing that it wants to deal with the Ustasha legacy which was revived over the last 15 years and for which some believed they could continue to cultivate after the HDZ came back to the power," Pupovac said.
He added that unlike the former HDZ rule, the incumbent government wanted to clearly distance itself from the Ustasha movement, thus creating room for even better cooperation with the SDSS. He said he also expected the government to change the names of streets and squares bearing the name of Mile Budak in 17 towns across Croatia.
Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS) vice president Damir Kajin said the government made the decision to remove the monuments under pressure. "The government was cornered and it is a good thing that it acted the way it did," Kajin said and added he expected the adoption of legal provisions which would regulate the re-naming of streets and squares bearing the name of Mile Budak. He said the removal of the monument is a clear message not only to the world, but also also to the former government which did not have the courage to use the authority of the state and solve such cases. Kajin said he was against the equation of the Ustashi and Communist regimes because, in his opinion, this would represent falsifying historical fact.
Croatian Bloc (HB) president Ivic Pasalic told a news conference on Friday that the immediate application of the preamble of the Constitution created room for the government to act in line with its own interests in any unsolved situation.
"People in Croatia must realise that fascism and the Ustasha movement had been defeated and that those were the ideologies in which the citizens of this country must not take pride," Zlatko Kramaric of the Liberal Party said and added that people who were erecting such monument must be eliminated from the political scene.