Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Thu, 23 Jul 2026 15:19:53 +0200https://english.radio.cz/notorious-czechoslovak-communist-party-hardliner-vasil-bilak-dies-96-8539825© 2026 Radio Prague InternationalFormer Czechoslovak Communist party ideology chief Vasil Bil’ak, the last surviving hardliner who sent a letter of invitation to Soviet leaders, officially justifying the Warsaw Pact invasion that crushed the Prague Spring reform movement in 1968, has died in Bratislava at the age of 96. Bilak was charged with high treason in 1991 but the case was later closed for lack of evidence. I asked prof. Jan Rychlik, who specializes in Czechoslovak history, how Vasil Bil’ak will be remembered.encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/bilak.jpg?timestamp=1591141363 https://english.radio.cz/notorious-czechoslovak-communist-party-hardliner-vasil-bilak-dies-96-8539825 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9