Czech-Russian relations to further improve - Gorbachev

     MOSCOW - Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, who turns 75 on Thursday, believes that the relations between the Czech Republic and Russia will further improve in the future, he told journalists today.
     Gorbachev said that Czech-Russian relations may develop especially in the area of the economy.
He also said that the military suppression of the Prague Spring, the Czechoslovak liberal movement in 1968 called "socialism with a human face" by Soviet-led armies was a mistake.
     "We should have reacted in a different way. The sense of the [Czechoslovak] plan had been correct. The reaction should have been discreet and serious," Gorbachev said in reaction to the question by CTK.
    He said that the military liquidation of the Prague Spring was fateful not only for Czechoslovakia, but also for the Soviet Union.
    "Political reaction received power [in the Soviet Union] just after these events, amendments to law enabling interventions against dissidents appeared. We definitely lost a chance," he said.
     Gorbachev praised current Russian President Vladimir Putin who will visit the Czech Republic later this week. He said that Putin managed to stop the disintegration of Russia and that he has been restoring order in the country. However, Gorbachev criticised Putin for his attitude to the media.
     "Free media, this is a sacred thing," he said.

Czech News Agency, February 27, 2006