SPECIAL EDITION: CRISIS IN THE KREMLIM : Around World, Coup Draws Condemnation and Demonstrations : <i> Here’s how news of the ouster of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev was received worldwide as reported by Times correspondents, researchers and wire services:</i> : Wariness in East Bloc
BUDAPEST, Hungary — In the East Bloc, leaders in former Soviet satellites such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary and Yugoslavia saw no good in the ousting of Gorbachev.
In Yugoslavia, the Supreme Council of Croatia called the Soviet leadership change a KGB-supported “putsch†of international consequence. “There is a real danger that in coordination with those circles in the Soviet Union, a similar scenario will be tried in Yugoslavia,†the ruling council stated. There was no immediate comment by Yugoslavia’s federal leadership.
Czechoslovak President Vaclav Havel, upon hearing of the Soviet leader’s fall, commented: “It’s not possible to turn back the wheel of history. We are convinced that the developments on the road toward democracy are irrevocable, even in the Soviet Union, and that democratic forces will celebrate victory in the end.â€
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