Prague, Aug 21 (CTK) – Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman and Minister for Human Rights Jiri Dienstbier were among those who commemorated the 48th anniversary of the country’s invasion by the armies of the Warsaw Pact outside the seat of the public Czech Radio on Sunday.
Dienstbier (Social Democrats, CSSD) said the occupation of Czechoslovakia was the first manifestation of the doctrine of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, according to which the Soviet Union had the right to intervene in the countries of the Eastern Bloc if it believed that the country was moving away from socialism.
The democratic principles and the respect for human rights were followed in Czechoslovakia after 1989 by a symbolic return to Europe and the joining of the European Union was a significant step in this development, Dienstbier said.
However, the present Russia applies the policy of limited sovereignty to a certain extent, which can be seen for example in Ukraine and Georgia, he said.
“We are at a turning point. We may keep walking the path of full sovereignty and cooperation between individual countries, or the policy of the spheres of influence may prevail once again,” Dienstbier said.
He said the 1968 invasion seems to clearly show that it is better to cooperate within Europe.
Warsaw Pact troops invaded the country during the night from August 20 to August 21, 1968 in order to suppress the Prague Spring reform movement. The invasion claimed 108 lives by the end of 1968.
Former foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) noted that 17 people died outside the building of the Czech Radio. They clashed with the soldiers that wanted to occupy the radio.
The names of all the victims were read at a remembrance gathering in the city’s central Wenceslas Square this afternoon.
Schwarzenberg said Czechs accepted the arrival of the era of normalisation without fighting. People must always fight for the freedom of speech in both public and private media, even now, he said.
Big money and party interests are as dangerous for the freedom of speech as the tanks outside the radio building, Schwarzenberg said.
The fire of the invading soldiers heavily damaged the facade of the nearby building of the National Museum.
The museum’s director Michal Lukes said the repairs of the damages will remain visible in the facade even after the general reconstruction of the building that is underway.
