Washington to repay Poland’s $71M debt

Press, 3 February 1982, Page 8

Washington to repay Poland’s $71M debt

NZPA-Reutet New York The United States Government has decided to repay SUS7I million of Poland’s debts to American banks which it had guaranteed, the •“New York Times” said yesterday. But the banks would not have to declare formally that Poland was in default, the report said. It said the decision was an apparent/ concession to the world-wide financial disruption which would be caused if Poland defaulted on its huge debts to the West. The money is part of 5U51.6 billion in loans to Poland made or guaranteed by the United States Agriculture Department. The Reagan Administration moved quickly to try to head off criticism that the Government’s willingness to pay Poland’s January debt conflicted with President Ronald Reagan’s vow to be tough on the country’s martial law Government. Asked about the two strands of policy, a State Department spokesman, Dean Fischer, said: “They complement each other.” Several officials said that if Poland were declared in default, it might choose not to make any payments. “We intend to make every effort to collect on the debt and the procedure adopted is the best way to do this,” Mr Fischer said. “Default does not help us to collect this debt." •> 4 ' The “New York Times” said the Agriculture Department last week adopted an emergency regulation, which would permit such’ repayments to banks without a formal declaration of default. . The nine banks were reported to be Bank of America, Citibank, Chase Manhattan, Morgan Guaranty Trust, Chemical, Marine Midland, First National of Chicago, First

Wisconsin National, and Girard Bank.

In Paris the newspaper, “Le Monde” has published what it says is a message from the Solidarity union leader, Lech Walesa, affirming- that he had been officially interned by the Polish authorities.

The daily published the texts, translated into French, of two documents. It Said one was a copy of the December 12 order for Mr Walesa’s internment, and the other a comment by the union leader which said Polish authorities were deceiving the public by saying he was not a prisoner. Mr Walesa got the message out to friends, the paper said.

The order, said to have come from the headquarters of the Civil Militia in Gdansk, and was “Internment Order No. 182,” gave the impression of being a standard format, and said: “Considering that leaving at liberty the citizen: “Walesa, Lech, electrician, Lenin naval shipyards, would threaten the security of the State and public order because of his anarchistic activities ... it is decided: “1. To intern the Walesa, Lech, and to place him in an isolation centre at

“2. The execution has been authorised by the investigation group of the headquarters of the Militia of Gdansk.”

/' The purported message from Mr Walesa said he received the order only on January 28, and called it the beginning of his gradual elimination.

Meanwhile West Germany is increasingly worried that the United States might respond to martial law in Poland by seeking to interrupt the European security conference in Madrid, according to diplomatic sources.

They said Bonn officials

feared that the Reagan Administration was not interested in continuing the Madrid talks after a plenary meeting next week, which Western countries want to focus on the Polish crisis. United States-West German differences on the issue are already being depicted by conservative West German commentators as a potential new source of friction for Atlantic relations.

West Germany’s view, made clear by its Foreign Minister (Mr Hans-Dietrich Genscher), is that the West should keep the Madrid meetings alive to maintain pressure on Moscow and its allies over alleged human rights violations. While there was still some uncertainty about Washington’s position, it was being assumed that the United States would not be sorry if the conference were broken off, the sources said. The Madrid conference, attended by representatives of 35 countries, was called to review the implementation of the 1975 Helsinki accords on human rights and detente in Europe.Mr Genscher is expected to attend next week’s, session.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Mr Genscher would confer in Madrid on February 8 with the American Secretary , of State (Mr Alexander Haig) who was described by a West German newspaper yesterday, as being furious with Bonn’s attitude. The conservative daily, “Die Welt” said in a report from Washington that Mr Hajg’s anger was aroused by a letter from Mr Genscher which said that the West should not help Moscow by releasing it from a difficult position in Madrid. The West should maintain pressure over the Polish crisis and not “spare the Soviet Union the embarrassment of having to state its views clearly on the human rights question,” Mr Genscher was quoted as saying.

European reaction to the American-produced and funded television show, “Let Poland be Poland” seems to be mixed or muted. But the British news media gave it short shrift. A British Broadcasting Corporation television commentator dismissed it as “the American propaganda machine in top gear.” “The Times” said in a dispatch from Washington that the show was almost as dull as an East European propaganda film and could have been called “The N.A.T.O. Show.”

The Right-wing “Daily Mail” headlined: “Flop as Reagan puts on his show for Poles” — a judgment echoed by the Dutch Conservative Rotterdam daily, “Algemeen Dagblad.”

In Italy the extracts shown by the State television network, R.A.1., were passed over in silence by the press. Spanish television . showed the whole documentary in prime time and an estimated nine million watched it.