Broad Economic Aid Program for Poland Announced by Bush

President Bush today announced a package of economic benefits for Poland to encourage and reward democratic reform and served notice that he will press for political change elsewhere in the Soviet Bloc.

“Liberty is an idea whose time has come in Eastern Europe,” Bush declared in his first major foreign policy speech.

“The United States, and let’s be clear on this, has never accepted the legitimacy of Europe’s division. We accept no spheres of influence that deny the sovereign rights of nations,” he said.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said later that a Bush trip to Poland is under consideration but added that there are no plans at this time.

‘Let Poland Live’

Bush, speaking in this Polish-American enclave near Detroit, noted to a burst of applause at City Hall that Poland today formally restored the legal status of the Solidarity trade union, and he concluded by saying in Polish, “Let Poland live.”

He said his eight-point package is designed to foster economic and political liberalization in Poland.

“The Poles are now taking concrete steps that require our active support,” Bush said, referring to an April 5 agreement between Warsaw’s communist-led government and the independent trade union Solidarity that he described as potentially “a watershed in the postwar history of eastern Europe.”

That agreement led today to the legalization of Solidarity after a seven-year ban and also calls for the first free and open elections in Poland since World War II.

Bush’s proposed measures to help the economically ravaged country include:

--Special tariff exemptions for Poland under the “Generalized System of Preferences” that aids less-developed nations.

--U.S. support for rescheduling a portion of Poland’s outstanding $39-billion foreign debt, $2.4 billion of which is owed to the U.S. government.

--U.S.-backed loans for private investment.

--Encouragement for private lenders to swap debt in return for equity in Polish businesses.

--Backing for special assistance for Poland in World Bank and International Monetary Fund programs.

Although some U.S. officials have put a $1-billion price tag on Bush’s package, presidential spokesman Roman Popadiuk refused to give a dollar figure, saying it is impossible to estimate one.

Exports About $417 Million

Some elements of the package would require congressional action while others, including the debt rescheduling envisioned by the President, would require the consent of America’s allies.

Popadiuk said the proposed tariff relief would be worth $3.5 million to $25 million. Polish exports to the United States--mainly hams, fish, textiles, and steel--amount to about $417 million annually.

A White House fact sheet said each element of the package is aimed at encouraging “sound economic policies and political reform.”

“Each economic step contains its own conditionality; there is no untied aid or unconditional credits,” it said.

Bush, who as vice president visited Poland in 1987, said he was fulfilling a pledge he made at that time to reward reform.