US presidential candidate focuses on 1968 invasion

In a speech on Thursday, the US presidential hopeful Barack Obama focused on the 40th anniversary of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. In his speech, Mr Obama commented that the US did not do much to help Czechoslovakia then, but stressed his country did much for the building of a free Europe later. Mr Obama, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, also drew on similarities between the ’68 invasion and the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia, saying that the “right to live freely and securely within their borders – a right denied the Czechs and Slovaks 40 years ago needed to apply to all European countries”.

At the same time, Mr Obama made clear that Russia was no longer the Soviet Union of the cold war era, and he stressed that the US had a stake in Russia in forwarding common interests.