Office of the Historian

56. Telegram 4666 From the Embassy in Poland to the Department of State, July 6, 1976, 1547Z.1 2

July 6, 1976, 1547Z.

CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 01 WARSAW 04666 061613Z

62

ACTION SS-25

INFO OCT-01 ISO-00 SSO-00 /026 W

——————————- 026086

R 061547Z JUL 76

FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW

TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2469

C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 4666

EXDIS

E.O. 11652: XGDS-1 (IMPODET)

TAGS: PINT, PFOR, ECON, PL

SUBJECT: POLISH PRICE RISES: GIEREK’S REACTION TO RFE COM-

MENTARY-II

REF: WARSAW 4657

1.
THE FIRST SECRETARY’S REACTION TO RFE COMMENTARY IS UNDER-
STANDABLE. IT IS OF A PIECE WITH THE REGIME’S TREATMENT OF
RFE’S NPOTENTIAL THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD OF THE PRICE-RISE
“OPERATION”, BEGINNING WITH OLSZOWSKI’S PLEA OF JUNE 23. NO
MORE CONVINCING DEMONSTRATION COULD BE IMAGINED OF THE FEAR WITH
WHICH THE REGIME REGARDS RFE.
2.
WE ARE SHORT-HANDED AND HAVE BEEN BUSY WITH BICENTENNIAL
EVENTS. WE HAVE CONSEQUENTLY NOT BEEN ABLE TO MONITOR RFE
COMMENARY AS WE WOULD HAVE LIKED. BASED ON WHAT WE HAVE BEEN
ABLE TO HEAR AND ON THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF SCRIPTS FROM MUNICH,
HOWEVER, WE CANNOT SEE THAT RFE HAS GROSSLY EXCEEDED ITS GUIDE-
LINES. REGRETTABLY, WE DO NOT YET HAVE “FAKTY, OPINII,
WYDARZENIA” FOR THE INITIAL PERIOD, AND IT IS HERE THAT WE
WOULD EXPECT TO FIND THE SHARPEST COMMENTARY.
3.
THE FIRST PROBLEM FOR THE DEPARTMENT IS TO DETERMINE
WHAT RFE HAS SAID AND TO EVALUATE ITS DEGREE OF CON-
SISTENCY WITH US POLICY. ON THE BASIS OF THIS JUDGMENT
AND OF THE EXIGENCIES OF THE UNFOLDING SITUATION OF
THIS IN POLAND, THE DEPARTMENT WILL PRESUMABLY WISH TO
CONFIDENTIAL

CONFIDENTIAL

PAGE 02 WARSAW 04666 061613Z

CONSIDER WHETHER IT IS DESIRABLE TO REPLY DIRECTLY TO
THE POLISH COMPLAINTS. ONCE WE HAVE SEEN THE
COMMENTARIES—INCLUDING “FAKTY, OPINII, WYDARZENIA”—
FOR THE PERIOD AFTER JUNE 25, WE WILL OFFER FURTHER
COMMENTS.

CONFIDENTIAL

NNN

DAVIES
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files. Confidential; Exdis.↩
  2. The Embassy commented on the Polish Government’s negative reaction to Radio Free Europe’s coverage of its price increases, stating that “No more convincing demonstration could be imagined of the fear with which the regime regards RFE.”↩