UN General Assembly
1968

102. Many of us here remember that the occupation of Czechoslovakia was the prelude to war in 1939, and it brought a shiver of grim foreboding to see East German troops entering Czechoslovakia again thirty years later. With such memories in our minds, let me say most earnestly to Moscow that it is important now that the Soviet Union should not abuse the position flowing from the presence of several hundred thousand Russian troops in Czechoslovakia. The recent agreement in Moscow should be carried out in a way that preserves the genuine independence of the Government and people of Czechoslovakia. The eyes of the world are still on that country and on neighbouring countries, Continued threats or pressure are bound to affect the judgement of the whole world on the possibility of co-operation with the Soviet Union — a co-operation which we see as a basic necessity for world peace and as a fundamental of the United Nations Charter.