Poland Accuses U.S. Diplomat of Espionage : Expels Colonel, Wife; Washington Retaliates by Ousting Military Attache, Postponing Talks

In a fresh setback for U.S.-Polish relations, the Warsaw government on Monday accused the American military attache and his wife of spying and ordered them to leave the country within 48 hours.

The United States quickly retaliated by expelling Poland’s military attache and postponing talks on a science and technology agreement.

The Polish Foreign Ministry accused the American attache, Col. Frederick Myer, of committing a “serious breach of his diplomatic status” last Thursday. A government statement said Myer and his wife, Barbara, were caught in the act of photographing a military installation north of Warsaw.

Polish government spokesman Jerzy Urban summoned Western and Polish reporters to his office to announce the expulsion and also to reject a protest the U.S. Embassy lodged last Friday. The protest said that the police had detained the two Americans in violation of their diplomatic immunity and had mistreated them.

Urban said the Foreign Ministry “states that it was the intention of Col. Myer to provoke the incident in order to further aggravate Polish-American relations.” Parts of the news conference were later broadcast on nationwide television.

An American Embassy spokesman, Jack Harrod, declined to comment, saying it is U.S. policy not to comment on allegations of intelligence activity. Other U.S. officials, however, strongly denied that the embassy had provoked the incident and said the couple had been mistreated.

‘Serious Violation’

In Washington, the State Department, describing the treatment of the Myer couple as outrageous and “a most serious violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations,” announced the expulsion of Col. Zygmunt Szymanski, the Polish attache.

Vivienne Ascher, a department spokeswoman, said the science and technology talks--scheduled to begin this week--will be postponed. The United States will also delay the return to Warsaw of the ranking officer of the U.S. Embassy there.

Earlier, Bernard Kalb, the department’s chief spokesman, said the incident will “of course” affect U.S.-Polish relations. “We expect the responsible officials to be disciplined,” he said.

The Defense Department denied the Polish charges that the Myers were engaged in spying, saying they “were on a normal tour in a country to which Col. Myer is accredited as a U.S. diplomat.”

‘Hurt Her Dignity’

Urban said Polish authorities rejected an American protest lodged Friday, the day after the Myers were detained, which complained that Barbara Myer had been stripped and searched in a way that “hurt her dignity.” He called the U.S. objections libelous, containing “false facts.” Urban said she had been searched by women police officers to determine whether she was concealing anything in her clothing.

However, the Pentagon released a statement in Washington saying that “Mrs. Myer’s clothing was taken from her and only upon Mrs. Myer’s protestation did males leave the room where she was detained. She was then forced to perform exercises before Polish security personnel.”

Urban said: “These strange suggestions concerning undignified treatment are meant only to divert attention from activities which run counter to diplomatic status. It is appalling that such questions are taken up by the authorities of a country whose diplomats take along their wives for spying missions.”

He said the Myers were observed last Thursday afternoon taking photographs near the town of Przasnysz, about 60 miles north of Warsaw. When police stopped them at a roadblock about 20 miles south of the town, Urban said, they locked the doors and rolled up the windows of their car and refused to identify themselves.

They were then ordered to follow the police to the regional Interior Ministry headquarters, where they were held for questioning.

Long Lenses, Good Maps

Urban said police confiscated two cameras with telephoto lenses, six rolls of film and detailed maps of the area prepared by the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency.

The exposed film, Urban said, contained one frame that, when developed, showed “military (radio) antennas.” When their car was first stopped, he said, the Myers covered themselves up with a blanket and appeared to be manipulating the film. He added that the film had been exposed to light and ruined, except for the frame showing the antennas.

Urban displayed one photograph taken by the police through the windshield of the locked car, showing Barbara Myer covering her face with her hands. Frederick Myer is shown with both hands on the steering wheel with his fingers raised defiantly in victory signs.

Thaw in Relations

The expulsion comes amid signs of a modest thaw in U.S.-Polish relations, which had been in a deep freeze since the independent Solidarity trade union was crushed under martial law in December, 1981.

After an amnesty for political prisoners last summer, the Reagan Administration lifted its veto on Poland’s application for membership in the International Monetary Fund. In recent weeks, the tone of articles in state-controlled newspapers has notably softened with the disappearance of the most venomous anti-American tones. And the U.S. Embassy last month filled the long-vacant post of science attache in anticipation a new agreement on scientific and technical cooperation.

At Poland’s insistence, however, both countries are still represented in each other’s capitals by charges d’affaires, one step below ambassadorial rank.