August 1968 serves as a reminder of the courage of people who refused to accept that others would decide the fate of their country and their future, President Peter Pellegrini said in a social media post marking the 58th anniversary of the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact forces.
According to Pellegrini, the values of freedom, democracy and sovereignty cannot be taken for granted, even today.
Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said that in 1968, overwhelming military force brought an end to necessary reforms within the socialist regime.
“The brute military force of the Warsaw Pact on August 21, 1968 stifled any chance of implementing Alexander Dubček’s vision of ‘socialism with a human face’,” Fico said. He added that Czechoslovakia subsequently lost almost 20 years during which reforms could have made the socialist system more competitive and closer to the people, as Dubček had envisioned.
The invasion by troops from five Warsaw Pact countries brought the reform and democratisation process in Czechoslovakia to an end. The military intervention, led by the Soviet Union, left at least 108 people dead and hundreds more injured.
Source: TASR
