Sejm Condemns 1968 Czechoslovak Invasion
The lower house of Poland’s National Assembly on Thursday condemned the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, echoing a move by Hungary and further straining relations between reformist and conservative East European states.
“The intervention breached the inalienable right of every nation to self-determination and its natural desire for democracy, freedom and respect for human rights,” the lower house, known as the Sejm, said in a resolution passed 335-1, with nine abstentions.
Communist deputies overwhelmingly supported the resolution--even though their former party leader, President Wojciech Jaruzelski, was Poland’s defense minister at the time of the invasion and allowed Polish troops to take part in it.
The measure, similar to one adopted last week by the Senate, also resembled a statement issued Wednesday by Hungary’s Communist Party, whose leadership said it does not identify itself with the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of Aug. 21, 1968. The invasion ended the “Prague Spring” reforms of Alexander Dubcek.
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