Editorial: Tensions Rise on the Other Side of the Curtain

Just before the invasion of Czechoslovakia, our journalists had the opportunity to talk to leaders and diplomats of the non-democratic part of Europe. The Warsaw Pact, a Soviet-lead organisation of mostly puppet states, seems to suffer from ever-increasing internal tensions. The USSR asserts its dominance over its puppet states more and more aggressively. Our journalists could pick up a lot of critical comments from various diplomats representing countries under Soviet oppression, including Bulgaria, Albania, and Romania. Romania’s dictator, Nicolae Ceaușescu, even offered Radio Free Europe an exclusive statement, stating he „opposes any meddling within Czechoslovak internal affairs, including but not excluded to forcing Dubcek's Action Plan to be abandoned or an invasion of Czechoslovakia in order to stop these reforms. There may be no interference from foreigners in the internal affairs of a brotherly socialist state.“ These comments, in addition to official reports confirming that journalists were expelled from Warsaw Pact conferences, show the authoritarian but fragile nature of communism, especially Soviet communism. NATO has never been in a more favourable light — it remains to see how it responds in order to keep itself there.