Zeman calls non-Communists who resigned in 1948 “stupid”

President Miloš Zeman says the non-Communist ministers who resigned in 1948, allowing the Communists to take power, were “stupid”. He made the comment in a speech at an event at Prague Castle on Tuesday night marking the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia and the 25th establishment of the foundation of the Czech Republic.

Mr. Zeman said that then Communist Party chief Alexander Dubček had “crapped himself” in fear in the face of Warsaw Pact aggression in 1968. He also said that the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989 had not been brought about by dissidents but Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who deserved respect for this.