LOCAL SOVIET VIEW OF CZECHOSLOVAK

C O N F I D E N T I A L PRAGUE 08311

BRUSSELS FOR USEC-AMBASSADOR NILES

E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL PINR CZ UR
SUBJECT: LOCAL SOVIET VIEW OF CZECHOSLOVAK
DEVELOPMENTS


1. CONFIDENTIAL - ENTIRE TEXT.


2. SUMMARY. IN NOVEMBER 28 CONVERSATION WITH
SOVIET COUNTERPART, DCM WAS TOLD THAT USE OF FORCE
OR INTERVENTION OF CZECHOSLOVAK MILITARY IN POLITICAL
SITUATION HERE IS OUT OF THE QUESTION. SOVIET
EMBASSY EXPECTED AND IS RELAXED ABOUT CHANGES HERE,
BUT WANTS TO SEE SOCIALISM PRESERVED. THEY WOULD
BE CONCERNED ABOUT ANY DEVELOPMENTS HERE WHICH
SUGGEST "ANTI-SOVIETISM." END SUMMARY.


3. IN CONVERSATION WITH SOVIET DCM, MARAT KUZNECOV,
AT YUGOSLAV NATIONAL DAY RECEPTION NOVEMBER 28,
DCM WAS TOLD THAT SOVIET EMBASSY IS CONVINCED
THAT "NO MORE BATONS" WILL BE USED HERE AND THAT
THE CZECHOSLOVAK MILITARY WILL NOT RPT NOT INTERVENE
IN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS. KUZNECOV SERVED
PREVIOUSLY IN BRATISLAVA AND WAS IN PRAGUE IN

1968.


4. KUZNECOV SAID THAT SOVIET EMBASSY WAS AWARE
THAT THERE WOULD BE CHANGE HERE AND AGREED THAT THERE
SHOULD BE A MORE "HUMAN" APPROACH TO BUILDING SOCIALISM
IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA. HE THOUGHT IT NOTEWORTHY AND, BY
IMPLICATION, POSITIVE THAT DUBCEK IN A WEEKEND ADDRESS
IN PRAGUE HAD QUOTED GORBACHEV AS USING THE TERM
(WHICH DUBCEK HIMSELF COINED IN 1968),"SOCIALISM
WITH A HUMAN FACE." HE SAID THERE WILL CERTAINLY
BE A SERIOUS DIALOGUE WITH THE OPPOSITION, BUT SAID
HE INVARIABLY REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA.


5. ASKED WHETHER THE SOVIET EMBASSY IS RELAXED
ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS HERE,KUZNECOV REPLIED THAT THE
EMBASSY IS WATCHING CLOSELY TO SEE THAT CERTAIN
OPPOSITION ELEMENTS DO NOT FOSTER A SPIRIT OF
ANTI-SOVIETISM. THE USSR WANTS SOCIALISM TO BE
MAINTAINED IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA. THE NEW CZECHOSLOVAK
COMMUNIST PARTY LEADERSHIP HAS PEOPLE IN IT WHO
RECOGNIZE THAT THE 1968 PARTY PROGRAM HAD MANY
GOOD ELEMENTS FOR BUILDING SOCIALISM. WHEN DCM
REMARKED THAT THERE WERE VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF
SOCIALISM AND THAT GORBACHEV'S NOVEMBER 26 PRAVDA
INTERVIEW (MOSCOW 33157) CONFIRMED THIS TO BE THE
CASE, KUZNECOV SMILED BROADLY AND NODDED. HOWEVER,
HE SIMPLY REITERATED THAT IT IS IN THE SOVIET
INTEREST TO KEEP CZECHOSLOVAKIA SOCIALIST AND TO
AVOID ANTI-SOVIET AND ANTI-COMMUNIST SENTIMENTS.


6. KUZNECOV WAS MORE RELAXED AND FRIENDLY THAN
USUAL AND JOKED THAT THE CHINESE AMBASSADOR HAD
JUST BEEN PRESSING HIM, UNSUCCESSFULLY, FOR HIS
VIEWS ON WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN HERE. HE FIRST CHARACTERIZED
THE SITUATION AS REFLECTING "TENSION" (NAPETI),
BUT QUICKLY AGREED THAT "DIFFICULT" OR "COMPLEX"
MIGHT BE BETTER TERMS AND THAT THERE WAS NO "TENSION"
IN THE SENSE OF POSSIBLE USE OF VIOLENCE OR FORCE.
HE EMPHASIZED THAT THE POSITIVE ASPECT OF DEVELOP-
MENTS HERE INVOLVED A MORE "HUMAN" APPROACH TO
SOCIALISM. HOWEVER, HE EMPHASIZED THAT THE SOVIET
POSITION IS THAT THEY WILL NOT INTERFERE IN THE
INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF OTHER STATES.

BLACK