CZECH LEADERS MEET SECRETLY

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31677, 13 May 1968, Page 13

CZECH LEADERS MEET SECRETLY

iN.Z.P. A.-Reuter—Copyright) PRAGUE, May 12. Czechoslovak Communist leaders are expected to make a statement soon to clear the air and allay the rising tide of rumours about the Government’s position and about Soviet and East European troop movements near Czechoslovakia’s north-eastern frontier.

Party leaders met in strict secrecy in Prague yesterday to discuss mounting opposition from the Soviet Union and other East European nations to Czechoslovakia’s reform programme. There is growing public concern in Prague about the lack of information on the unexpected visit to Moscow last week-end of the Czech Communist Party leader, (Mr Alexander Dubceck), which apparently led to some kind of crisis between the two countries.

Although there is no real fear that the reforms embodied in the Czechoslovak action programme will be stalled by opposition from Moscow, there is concern about the silence being maintained by the Prague leadership.

Those close to Mr Dubceck when he addressed an open air rally at Rip Hill, 18 miles north of Prague, on Friday, said the 45-year-old leader looked pale and fatigued. The newspaper, "Lidova Demokracie” yesterday appealed to the Czechoslovak leadership to dispel rumours that they were called to Moscow last week-end to be put “on the carpet.”. It added: “Our allies are worried about what is going on here. They do not disguise their apprehensions . .”

Prague’s main problem now is how to maintain the essence of the reform programme without facing a disastrous slump in relations with Moscow. Two-thirds of i Czechoslovakia's foreign trade ■is with the Eastern European ! block and over one-third of lit is directly with the Soviet 1 Union.

week to form a solid front against the liberal trends in Czechoslovakia and against other departures from the Moscow line followed in Rumania and Jugoslavia, but there has been no concrete evidence that the hard-liners seek to apply military pressure to bring the Czechs back into line with the Kremlin view of communism.

Troop movements close to the Czechoslovak border with Poland have been attributed to previously - announced mandevres.

There has been speculation that the leaders of East Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria and Poland met in Moscow last