Voice of America Editorial Angers Poland : Critical Broadcast Said Lifting of U.S. Sanctions Was Not Justified

The Polish government attacked the United States’ Voice of America on Tuesday for a broadcast that said Poland has not made enough progress to justify lifting U.S. economic sanctions imposed after the declaration of martial law five years ago.

Saying he was “astonished” by the broadcast, government spokesman Jerzy Urban noted that it appeared to contradict positive comments by a senior U.S. official who visited Poland recently, and he suggested that the Reagan Administration might not be speaking with a single voice on the subject of Poland.

In an editorial, the Voice of America mentioned the recent visit to Warsaw by Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead, who met with Polish leader Wojciech Jaruzelski and other officials for talks that led to agreement on steps to increase trade, scientific cooperation and other contacts.

Openly Critical

Whitehead said upon his departure that the United States and Poland were “clearly on the way to improving our relations,” but the VOA editorial was openly critical of the Jaruzelski regime.

The broadcast recalled the “shock and dismay” of the American public when the Polish regime declared martial law on Dec. 13, 1981, and it said the sanctions were imposed “to express our repugnance--and to encourage the Warsaw regime to ease its repression.”

Since then, the broadcast said, “some progress has been made. Not enough, but some.”

The Voice of America, a worldwide arm of the U.S. Information Agency headed by Charles Z. Wick, comes under the domain of the State Department, and its editorials are identified as reflecting the views of the U.S. government. It is widely heard in Poland, where there is no jamming of foreign radio broadcasts.

Official Protest

The Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Charge d’Affaires John C. Davis Jr. to hear an official protest over the broadcast. Later, speaking at a nationally broadcast news conference, government spokesman Urban said he was “astonished, to say the least,” by the VOA editorial.

“These statements need certain explanations if, as the Voice of America claims, they really reflect the U.S. government’s opinions, for we cannot rule out the Voice of America carrying on its own policy of misleading information. . . ,” Urban said.

He objected specifically to what he said was a suggestion in the editorial that Whitehead’s trip was intended to negotiate an end to the economic restrictions in exchange for Polish concessions.

“The question of lifting the U.S. restrictions has never been and will never be under negotiation or agreement between the Polish and the U.S. sides,” he said. “The United States has introduced its restrictions unilaterally, so it can and ought to lift them unilaterally.”

Lack of Support Suggested

Urban also objected to the VOA statement that the readiness of the American government to lift sanctions “depends not only on the actions of the Polish government, but on the interests and desires of Polish society.”

Suggesting that the regime has yet to win any significant popular support, the VOA said it was for this reason that Whitehead met privately with Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity movement that was banned five years ago. Martial law was lifted in 1983, but Solidarity, which once had several million members, remains outlawed.

“Nobody has given and nobody can give the U.S. government the right to define the Polish nation’s interest and aspirations,” Urban said. “Furthermore, the character of all references to the way a sovereign government ‘behaves’ is clearly indicative of leveling further conditions to determine the improvement of mutual relations.”

Sanctions Have Hurt

Urban said the sanctions, which block new loans and deprive export-hungry Poland of most-favored-nation trading status, have cost his country an estimated $15 billion.

“The losses from the economic point of view were great,” said another Polish official, citing the loss of business from U.S. and other firms that are reluctant to deal with countries that do not have most-favored-nation status.

“But from the political point of view, the restrictions have failed,” the official said, “because they are linked to conditions, and we have simply rejected the conditions that were put.”

The official, who asked not to be identified, warned that the process of restoring normality to U.S.-Polish relations--something that many of America’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies have already done--is “still very delicate and very fragile, considering that for so many years we have been the object of a policy of restrictions.”

Talks Under Way

Although Polish officials denied that Warsaw has given in to any demands, Western diplomats linked the Whitehead visit and other recent contacts, including Gen. Jaruzelski’s official visit to Rome in January, with the release of virtually all of the country’s political prisoners last fall.

They also said they expect the regime’s goal of national reconciliation to lead eventually to the restoration of the right to form independent organizations, including independent trade unions that may or may not bear the Solidarity name.

Already, talks are under way on reopening the Warsaw PEN Club, which was closed during martial law. PEN is an international literary agency.