The Bulgarian government is disturbed by the recent dislocations of Yugoslav armed forces along the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border in the Macedonia region. Officials in Sofia fear a Yugoslav attempt to annex Pirin region to Macedonia.
August 30, 1968
Cipher Message 3235-8/223, Warsaw to Minister of National Defense of the Polish People's Republic Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski
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[Handwritten:] Top Secret
Incoming cipher message number 3235; outgoing number 8/223
Unit name: SGV Legnica 30 August 1968 21.30
Warsaw to Minister of National Defense of the Polish People's Republic Division General Cde. W. Jaruzelski
Dear Cde. Minister!
After joint discussion of the issue of the upcoming October exercise during your recent visit to us in Legnica we have carefully considered all the circumstances and the current situation, consulted with Cde. Grechko and Cde. Hoffman, and taking their opinion into account I went to express our point of view to you about this important issue. As you know, many joint exercises have been conducted this year in the Western sector in which the troops and staffs of the Polish Armed Forces, the GDR NNA, and Soviet Army have participated. In fact, exercises have been conducted one after the other almost without interruption since May through the 20th of August. This exercise, "?UMAVA", the "Sever" naval exercise, the "Neman" rear exercise, the exercise with the troops conducted under your leadership, and finally the "Ehfir" communications exercise. Thus, this number of exercises is sufficient and some them have been conducted in excess of the plan. Secondly, the quick march of the allied armies into Czechoslovakia and their subsequent actions were the best training for the troops. Moreover, the Polish Armed Forces and the Soviet Army have carried out the primary missions in this operation. Examining this issue from two [translator's comment: words possible missed between pages, perhaps "from two sides" was intended] [we] should also take into consideration the great amount of time spent for the "Dunay" operation, the consumption of service life, the limits of fuel, the wear and tear on the equipment, etc. Finally, we also cannot dismiss the current situation which forces us to keep troops on the territory of Czechoslovakia, at least for the immediate future. All the above forces me to draw the conclusion about the advisability of moving the October exercise to 1969. Please consider this and report your point of view.
Regards,
Yakubovsky, Marshal of the Soviet Union
Decrypted 30.8.1968 21.45 [illegible signature]
Because the Warsaw Pact has recently conducted a large number of military exercises and the costs of doing so, and given the present military occupation of Czechoslovakia, Soviet Marshal Yakubovsky proposes postponing the October joint military exercise to the following year. Yakubovsky solicits Polish General Jaruzelski's opinion on the matter.
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Institute of National Remembrance (IPN-BU). Translated for CWIHP by Gary Goldberg.
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2012-07-27
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