The new period of antagonism was initiated in 1968 with the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.[26] Contrary to Yugoslav verbal support to Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956, Yugoslavia strongly condemned the invasion of Czechoslovakia which was perceived as a particularly close country. On 12 July 1968 President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito gave an interview to Egyptian daily Al-Ahram where he stated that he believes that Soviet leaders are not "such short-sighted people [...] who would pursue a policy of force to resolve the internal affairs of Czechoslovakia".[27] President Tito visited Prague on 9 and 10 August 1968, just days before the intervention while large group of 250,000 demonstrators gathered in Belgrade once the intervention started.[27] Yugoslavia provided refuge for numerous Czechoslovak citizens (many on holidays) and politicians including Ota Šik, Jiří Hájek, František Vlasak and Štefan Gašparik.[27] During and after the invasion thousands of citizens of Czechoslovakia used Yugoslavia as the most important paths of emigration to the Western countries.[28]