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ACTION EUR-12
INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 CIAE-00 DODE-00 PM-03 H-01 INR-07 L-02
NSAE-00 NSC-05 PA-01 RSC-01 PRS-01 SP-02 SS-15
USIA-06 IO-10 SAJ-01 AID-05 EB-07 CIEP-01 TRSE-00
STR-01 OMB-01 CEA-01 COME-00 NIC-01 OES-03 ACDA-05
/093 W
--------------------- 109111
R 211334Z JAN 75
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 3045
INFO AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
AMEMBASSY BERLIN
AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
AMEMBASSY PRAGUE
AMEMBASSY SOFIA
USMISSION NATO
AMCONSUL KRAKOW
AMCONSUL POZNAN
C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 0393
E.O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: PFOR, PL, US, UR
SUBJECT: CENTRAL COMMITTEE OFFICIAL TELLS US DETENTE WILL
CONTINUE
1. MARIAN KRUCZKOWSKI, ACTING DIRECTOR OF THE PZPR CENTRAL
COMMITTEES PRESS AND PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT, POINTEDLY TOOK
THE POLITICAL COUNSELOR ASIDE AT A POLISH RECEPTION ON JANU-
ARY 18 TO VOLUNTEER ASSURANCES THAT THE POLISH PARTY DOES
NOT VIEW DETENTE AS THREATENED BY THE SOVIET ABROGATION OF
THE 1972 SOVIET-US TRADE AGREEMENT. KRUCZKOWSKI SAID
THAT THE WIDESPREAD SPECULATION IN THE WEST ABOUT A
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RETURN TO THE COLD WAR WAS NONSENSE. HE SAID THAT
NEITHER THE SOVIETS NOR THE POLES WANT TO TURN BACK FROM
DETENTE. THERE WOULD CONTINUE TO BE PROBLEMS BETWEEN
EAST AND WEST, BETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE UNITED
STATES, AND BETWEEN POLAND AND THE US, BUT THEY SHOULD
BE SOLVED IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF DETENTE RATHER THAN IN AN
ATMOSPHERE OF COLD WAR. HE EMPHASIZED THAT POLAND VALUES
HIGHLY THE WARMER RELATIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES THAT
HAVE DEVELOPED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS AND IN PARTICULAR
THE GOOD ATMOSPHERE DURING AND SINCE GIEREKS VISIT TO
THE US. HE CONCLUDED THAT WE MUST CONTINUE TO PRESERVE
THAT ATMOSPHERE AND TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS THAT SURELY
WILL ARISE FROM TIME TO TIME.
2. KRUCZKOWSKI SPOKE WITH AUTHORITY AND UNDOUBTEDLY
INTENDED TO CONVEY THE IMPRESSION THAT HE WAS REPRESENTING
THE VIEWS OF THE POLISH PARTY AND GOVERNMENT.
3. THE SAME DAY, POLITYKA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MIECZYSLAW
RAKOWSKI, WHO IS A CANDIDATE MEMBER OF THE CENTRAL
COMMITTEE AND A LEADING PRESS SPOKESMAN FOR THE PARTY,
TOLD THE PAO DURING A LUNCHEON AT THE LATTERS HOUSE THAT,
IN HIS VIEW, ALTHOUGH "SOMETHING WAS GOING ON IN THE SOVIET
HIERARCHY", WHATEVER LEADERSHIP CHANGES MIGHT OCCUR IN
THE SOVIET UNION, "POSSIBLY IN THE NEXT 3-4 MONTHS",
WOULD NOT AFFECT THE POLICY OF DETENTE OR SOVIET RELATIONS
WITH THE US. RAKOWSKI, WHO VISITED THE SOVIET UNION IN
LATE DECEMBER, SAID THAT THE SOVIET MILITARY, THE MOST
SKEPTICAL FORCE WITHIN THE SOVIET UNION ABOUT BREZHNEV'S
DETENTE POLICY, SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN REASSURED BY THE
VLADIVOSTOK AGREEMENT.
4. COMMENT: CLEARLY, THE POLISH PARTY STRONGLY DESIRES
A CONTINUATION OF DETENTE AND DOES NOT FORESEE A CHANGE
IN SOVIET DETENTE POLICIES. ANOTHER PROMINENT POLISH
JOURNALIST MADE THE SAME POINT TO US LAST WEEK, ADDING
THAT THE ONLY THING HIS COLLEAGUES FEAR IS AN ABRUPT
CHANGE IN SOVIET LEADERSHIP WITHOUT PREPARATION WHICH
COULD LEAD TO A PERIOD OF UNCERTAINTY. WELL-INFORMED
POLES BELIEVE THAT BREZHNEVS HEALTH IS FAILING AND THAT,
AS A RESULT, HE MAY BE FORCED AT SOME POINT TO STEP DOWN.
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HOWEVER, THEY HOPE FOR--AND CLAIM TO FORESEE--A
CONTINUATION OF HIS DETENTE POLICIES. THE CAVEAT ABOUT
THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF AN ABRUPT, UNPREPARED
SOVIET LEADERSHIP CHANGE IS THE ONE CONCERN WE HAVE
HEARD VOICED TO DATE.
DAVIES
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