Jaruzelski in fresh apology for Polish role in 1968 invasion

Poland's former Communist leader Wojciech Jaruzelski has apologised for the role his country played in the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. General Jaruzelski served as Defence Minister in August 1968, when 26,000 Polish troops joined the huge invasion force which crossed Czechoslovakia's borders. Rob Cameron has the following report.

Wojciech Jaruzelski, photo: CTK

A military band played outside the headquarters of Czech Radio on August 21st, as people across the Czech Republic commemorated the 37th anniversary of the occupation. The commemoration is an annual and by now unremarkable event. But this year, General Jaruzelski, Poland's last Communist president, appeared live on Czech Television to apologise for his country's role in the invasion. His words were simultaneously translated by an interpreter.

"I'm well aware of just how wrong a decision it was. I'm sorry about it, it still pains me. I know the Czech people expect this of me, so I say to you - I'm sorry, and I want to repeat it once again. I'm capable of saying it once again, and stressing it, underlining it."

Dozens were killed and hundreds injured when five armies of the Warsaw Pact occupied Czechoslovakia. The occupation brought to an abrupt end the political and economic reforms of Communist leader Alexander Dubcek, a period of relative enlightenment known as the Prague Spring.

General Jaruzelski, who was defence minister in 1968, said he was implementing a political decision which he had no power to influence. He said he soon came to realise the invasion was a "stupid, political act."

August 1968

It's not the first time General Jaruzelski has apologised for Poland's role in the invasion. The Polish leader said he was sorry in 1990, when the newly elected Czechoslovak president Vaclav Havel visited Warsaw. Jiri Pehe, who was a senior adviser to ex-president Havel, told Radio Prague he welcomed this latest apology.

"I think it's commendable. I think certainly this is something he bears partially personal responsibility for, so it is more difficult for someone like that. Also of course Czechoslovakia and Poland were supposedly friends at that time, and many Czechs still see this intervention, this invasion as an act of betrayal. So I think it's something that certainly will improve Czech-Polish relations and to some extent clears the picture of General Jaruzelski."

But not everyone will be quite so generous. For many Czechs the general is still a controversial figure. In May this year President Klaus criticised Russia for awarding Jaruzelski a medal for his role in the Second World War, saying for Czechs the general remained a symbol of the 1968 invasion and for Poles the man who suppressed the pro-democracy movement.