INVADERS MUST PAY THEIR WAY

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31926, 1 March 1969, Page 20

INVADERS MUST PAY THEIR WAY

fN.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright) I PRAGUE, Feb. 26. From now on, Soviet soldiers in Czechoslovakia must pay their own way, stop at all the stop signs, and provide their own shoes. And they can no longer spend roubles in Czechoslovak shops. A new agreement made public by Czechoslovak officials lists such terms as part' of the responsibilities of thej Warsaw Pact’s occupation . army of 70.000 men stationed in the country. It covers everything from! the clothes the soldiers wear-' to the money they can spend, j Mo cow must pay the full' cost of maintaining its occu-i pation troops, the officials say. i The agreement does not' cover the problem of off-duty, troops who carry live ammunition in their machine-guns, and rules out searches of i Soviet military vehicles at border crossings. The Czechoslovak news; agency. C.T.K., says the De-; puty Prime Minister (Mri Frantisek Hamouz) told a news conference that Czecho- ! Slovakia had “insisted on the fulfilment of its demands and, views” in their negotiations on the agreement. It provides, in general that! Soviet soldiers in the country < will be subject to Czechoslo-i vak laws. I; The agreement also provides that Soviet purchases on . the retail market must be inli Czechoslovak crowns, not'i

roubles, and must be limited! to a tiny fraction of the total retail turn-over. “Individual Soviet soldiers | cannot change roubles for| ■ crowns at the bank,'’ C.T.K. • says. , Shoes, knitwear and other clothing will not be provided by the Czechoslovaks unless they come from supplies already destined for the Soviet Union. “Soviet military vehicles must adhere to the Czechoslovak highway code,” the report says, “but responsibility | for the contents of military vehicles is left to the commander of the transport I under the Warsaw Treaty.” ' According to the C.T.K. reI port, the Czechoslovak negoi tiators refused to discuss the : subject of housing for officers, which is not part of the agreement. The agreement supplements ■ a treaty signed in October, making legal the presence of I I the occupation forces left j from the 250.000 Warsaw j Pact troops that invaded' I Czechoslovakia in August. I i