Bulgarian-Czechoslovak Treaty of 1968 on Friendship, Cooperation, and

signed in Prague on April 26 by T. Zhivkov, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party and chairman of the Council of Ministers, for the People’s Republic of Bulgaria; and by A. Dubček, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and O. Černík, chairman of the government, for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It was concluded for a period of 20 years. The treaty states that the German Democratic Republic is an important factor in European security, whereas the West German forces of militarism and revanchism are a threat to peace. In view of the important role of the Bulgarian-Czechoslovak Treaty of 1948 and of the changes that have taken place in Europe and the world, the contracting parties, in conformity with the principles of socialist internationalism, and on the basis of equality, sovereignty, and mutual noninterference in domestic affairs, pledged in the future to strengthen friendship and develop overall cooperation. The two parties also agreed to coordinate their national economic plans on the basis of socialist division of labor, specialization, and cooperation in production, promote cooperation within the framework of the Council of Mutual Economic Aid (COMECON), strengthen the consolidation of the world socialist commonwealth, and work toward the solution of the major international problems of our time on the basis of the policy of peaceful coexistence and the UN Charter. The two parties, pointing out that the Munich Pact of 1938 had been illegal from the very beginning, expressed the desire to ensure peace in Europe, an important factor of which is the inviolability of the existing frontiers. In accordance with the Warsaw Pact of 1955 and Article 51 of the UN Charter, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia pledged to render each other immediate aid, including military aid, in the case of an armed attack of any state or group of states and also consult each other on all questions of mutual interest.