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EO 12958 3.3(b) (1~>25Yrs 
(S) 	·. I.' i l CBH'l'RZ\L INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 
Directorate of Xntelliqenoa :! . . 2 September 1968. · 
·.:INTELLIGENCE M~mORANOUU 
., r1· . 'l'h~" S 1 i tua'ti·on· ·in cz·ec:h·o·s'loVak'itt a·nd" R'\llnan·ia 
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j . ·1. An AP report·from·r-ioscow quotes COllU\\Unist ~ources as~ 
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sayi~q that an::'important '1\e:et~?9 of· the Soviet party central 
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co~ittee· o~ C~echoslovakia is expected, and·may already have 
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started. ~a~qe numbers· of government li~ousines were seen
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parked outside tha= central· comrdttee buildi~g. No official. 
·;information f~om Soviet sources could be obtained. Accordi~q· 
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·t:-o -Cc;>mmwtist sources., the ·rneeti~9 was called to s.~ek ways of 
,mit~qati~q hostile.world ·~eaction to the ·occupation of 
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Czechoslovakia, particu!larly the criticiam voiced by the French. 
and Italian communist parties. These sources said that the 
I<r"emlin·was consider·i~g sori\e conciliatory. gesture such as. 
.~art~al w~thdrawa~. ~-f troops. 'l'ho~gh un~onfirrtted~ these 
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firs·t: repor.ta from l·10s.cow imply continued perturbation within 
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the Sovie~· load~r~hip over the Czeahoslovak problem. 
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~. The us· Er.\bassy in f.loscow had seen eviaence in the Soviet pi:e.sa .of l . and 2 Sapte~~r of an effort to take some steam out ot tbe ca~choslovaJc situation, both ~nternally and externally·. Ll~e in Czechoslo~akia ~s port~~yed as returni~ to.normal at 
·a. fairly!:satisf:acto.ry pa~e, despite· the continued presence. of • • 11-counter-revolutio11ar~e~..·" ~rdprove~ relations between soviet soldie~s and czechosloyaks aro stressed. Pravda on 2 September .specificaliy d~nied th~ ".fabricated" story of the "serious illness" of an unapecifted :Czechoalovak leader --presumably Dubcek 
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and denied. rumors of arrests among cz~cho~lovak ·1ntollectuals. 
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The press has ~uspended denunc~ation of Y~goalavia, Rumania and
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r  Auatri,.  ~ltho~9h ~i~peri~listaw remain under attack, specific  
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references  to th~ 0 .;S.  are  rare.  
3. At the  sam~ time, today•s· Pravda warna  the Czechs  
'against resuming ·negotiat·ions with western countries for hard­ 
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·1  currency  ~oans~  Al~ho~gh-claimi~g that the ~SSR and Czechoslovakia  
:  .  .~ are . "sovere~gn and equal" trade partn~rs, Pravda said. that "~nly  
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political in?anta could think about•••flirti~g with imperialist  
.,  · monopolies whq ·sed':1<?e. si~pletons•••with heavy credits."  The  
$5SO•million··hard currency ·credit. requested by the Czechs  
. i from the USSR · s~ve~,1 months ~go has  not been.granted.  Since  

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last spripg t~e Cze~hs also have made inquiries of several I Wea~ European sources on the.availability of credits. Xt now ap~ears. ·that the c;:zecbs w!°ll ·be precluded from seeking the . . ' ' . : . . ~a~ge Western loans·and tec~nical assistance needed to develop efficient Czech export•:industries. ! : 4. The . us· Embas~Y ·in ?r~que reported on l Sept.ember . tb~t the Soviets do l)Ot seem to be proceedip9 with haste in ' . . . .. <?lam~i~g down on Czechosloya.Jda. Despit~ continui~q rumors of · an imp~ndi?.<J wave of .arrests, the Embas.sy had riot heard of any arrests .of specific ·1nt~llectuals or others.  ., ,.  
sources have descri:bed the current Soviet tactics as "Macqiavellian," and ,JJu·spect the soviets hope to lure back Czechoslovaks now abroad so that· they will not pr~p~gate Czech resentment. The .Czechoslovaks are also suap:icious of tl1e relatively lenient Soviet attitude toward the press, believi?9 tha ·sovieta hope to b~quile writers with pr~ressive tendencies and then "pick them .off.. "}  
·1 s. The czochoslovak ·Journalists union reportedly announced . I yesterday that it ~111 acaept censorship for three months only.  
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·rt also· stated that the Soviets bave insisted that three of t;he 
nlOre outspoken and liberal· journals, Reporter, Student, and 
L"iter·ar-ni· z.isty, .b~ forced to coase publication. 'l'Wo other ·p~pers·, .the trade .unio.n da~ly ~and the Socialist daily . svobodn~ ~~ anno~nced yesterda~ ,that they intend to test tlle 
limits of permissible pubUoat1on under the new conditions. The 
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Embassy. repo~t·d that moa~ papera ~ere still oper3ti~g, but from out·side their prem~se~. 
6. Reuters.reported to~ay that soJne. 500 Czechoslovaks expected to arrive in Vi~nna :last n~ght were ~ot aboard the Pr~que-Vienna :expr~ss train•. Austrian officials suspect that th~. Soviets hav.e t~9htened border controls. In this· connection, the us Embassy in :Pr~gue learned from several Czechoslovaks yes.terday that as ·of l. September no exit permita will be issued 
for 	a· period; of ·at. least. a~veral days. 
·?· ·Military activity .in B~~g~ria picked up t11is morni~9. 
·with ehe b~ginnd.nc;i of a gr.ound forces field .traini?g exercise 

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in~olvi~9 ·at ·least. the ~u~garian army formation in the eastern part Of the country. . .An ~ir defense exercise Was under way yesterday in northe~ste~n .Bu~garia an~ probably waa a prelude 
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to the 9round activity. Bulgarian aircraft remain deployed
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~t airfield~ in the northeastern part of 	the country. 
a. Re~tr~ction.• on tho tJ:avel of Allied liaison miesiona in ao~t.heastern.·Ea.~t Ge~ny have been extended. once ~gain by the Soviet commander in Bast Germany. 'l'h~ new :terminal date of 
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t:he· travel ban is .15 ·september. • 
9. 	The au~ian press has not :published or cormnented on a Preaident Johnson·' s apeoc~, and, acoordi!>9 to/Rumanian news~enc::y offic~al, would not do so in an effort to avoid. anythi~g which could. be interpreted a, •prov0cati~e~· The us Bnlbas~y in 
Bucharest notes t~at the aumAnian pre•s of l and 2 September had virtuall~ no cover~ge of. ~he situation in Czeohoalovakia. 
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