Czech officials: Putin’s aggression reminiscent of 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia

Czech officials have denounced President Putin’s decision to recognize the independence of the breakaway Ukrainian republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and compared the presence of Russian troops in Donbas to the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia.

The Czech Foreign Ministry said Putin’s actions were a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine and in breach of the Minsk Agreements and international law.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the Czech Republic stands firmly behind a free and independent Ukraine and has its own historic experience with “brotherly aid” from Russia.

Defense Minister Jana Černochová called Russia's recognition of the separatist republics in eastern Ukraine an effort to "restore the Soviet Union at the expense of free and sovereign countries." The civilized world must never tolerate that; it is not just Ukraine on Putin's chessboard, we are there as well,” the defense minister tweeted.

The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Markéta Pekarová Adamová wrote on Twitter that if the Czech Republic were not a member of NATO, it would be similarly threatened as Ukraine.