MP organises military convoy to commemorate 1968 invasion

In order to mark the 47th anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact armies in 1968 a military convoy will pass through Slovakia over the next few days, said MP Alojz Hlina (the Christian Democratic Movement) on Monday. It will depart from Bratislava on Wednesday, August 19. It will stop in Zvolen, Prešov and Košice before ending its journey in the village of Krajna Bystra (Prešov Region) which is the birthplace of Vasil Biľak, one of the communist hardliners who signed an 'invitation letter' calling for the invasion. A bust of Biľak was set up in the town recently. On the night of August 20-21, 1968 Warsaw Pact armies invaded the territory of Czechoslovakia. Five socialist countries took part in an operation codenamed 'Danube' - the Soviet Union, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria and the German Democratic Republic, the last of which didn't actually participate in the invasion. The main purpose of the operation was to suppress efforts to reform socialism in Czechoslovakia under the so-called Prague Spring.