Culture Minister Istvan Hiller on Thursday made his apologies on behalf of the Hungarian government for his country's participation in the crushing of the "Prague Spring" revolution in 1968.
Hiller said in a political statement at press conference that the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union and members of the Warsaw pact 40 years ago was "an act of aggression, an attack on freer thing and freer action."
"This is fact, even though Hungarian troops were forced to participate in the invasion by the Soviet Union," he said.
Hiller said the crushing of the Prague Spring was clear evidence that a Soviet-type power was unable to reform and unfit for change.
Hiller said the invasion, the suppressing of the Prague Spring was shameful and an apology was moral obligation. "We apologize," he added.
On the same day, Hungary's president Laszlo Solyom said at a commemoration that he regretted the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and was sorry for Hungary's role in it. An apology could serve reconciliation, he added.
On the night of August 20-21, 1968, more than 200,000 Warsaw pact troops including Hungarian troops entered Czechoslovakia to halt a period of political liberalization. The Hungarian troops came back home on October 30, 1968.
Source:Xinhua
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