The point of view reflected by the different newspapers agrees with the one given by the Belgian government in 1968. At that time, Pierre Harmel was indeed Minister of Foreign Affairs and he had so much regretted the invasion of Czechoslovakia that he suspended the relationship between Belgium and the countries of Eastern Europe (the “Harmel doctrine” aimed to warm up the relationship between the Soviet countries and the countries members of NATO, considering that military security was preferable to a tense situation).

The various Belgian newspapers that we could consult don’t say anything more. Of course, the tone varies according to the newspaper (“La Wallonie” appears quite vindictive, fearing a general increase of the conflict between East and West, “Le Soir” or “La Libre Belgique” appear to be more temperate while condemning the Soviet invasion), but on the whole they agree with the official version given by the Belgian government of that time.

Therefore we can say that the Belgian newspapers and the Belgian government speak the same way.