First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Ivica Dacic said that the decision to overturn the sentence imposed on war criminal Stepinac is in fact a rehabilitation of the Ustasha-run fascist Independent State of Croatia (NDH).

"This not just an issue between Serbia and Croatia, but a problem of a global and European scale, because both the UN and the EU prohibit restoration of fascism and pro-fascist ideologies. The words Stepinac uttered on Easter of 1941, saying that "the NDH has been created by the grace of God, by the wise and dedicated work of the Poglavnik/Leader (Pavelic) and the Ustasha movement, as well as by the will of our allies (Hitler and Mussolini)", and also that "the NDH is the most noteworthy event in Croatian people's existence", are most illustrative of both Stepinac and those wishing to clear his name.

How is this possible in a European Union built on the victory over fascism? If the EU remained silent on this, the next in line to be rehabilitated would be Ante Pavelic and his bosses Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, whom Stepinac used to bless."