45. Telegram 1634 From the Embassy in Poland to the Department of State, April 7, 1973, 1218Z.1 2
SUBJECT:
- ICCS: POLISH AND HUNGARIAN OBSTRUCTIONISM
REFS:
- ( A) STATE 064299; ( B) STATE 059898
CONFIDENTIAL POSS DUPE
PAGE 01 WARSAW 01634 071251 Z
50
ACTION SS-25
INFO OCT-01 ADP-00 SSO-00 /026 W
——————————- 008359
O 071218 Z APR 73 ZFF 4
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1634
INFO AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY JAKARTA IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA IMMEDIATE
AMEMBASSY SAIGON IMMEDIATE
WHITE HOUSE IMMEDIATE
USDEL JEC PARIS IMMEDIATE
C O N F I D E N T I A L WARSAW 1634
EXDIS
E. O. 11652: GDS
TAGS: MARR, VS, PL, MU
1. IN ABSENCE OF FOREIGN MINISTER ( WHO IS EN ROUTE
HOME TODAY FROM BELGRADE), I SAW ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER
TREPCZYNSKI
AT 11:30 A. M. LOCAL AND MADE REPRESENTATION
TO HIM AS INSTRUCTED,
CLOSELY FOLLOWING LANGUAGE OF
REF B. TREPCZYNSKI TOOK CAREFUL
NOTES.
2. RESPONDING, TREPCZYNSKI SAID THAT POLISH GOVERNMENT
WAS INTERESTED
IN FULL RESPECT FOR THE PARIS AGREEMENT.
THEY HAD ENTERED INTO ICCS
ROLE AT THE INVITATION OF THE
INTERESTED PARTIES BECAUSE THEY WISHED
TO SERVE THE CAUSE
OF PEACE, OF GOOD RELATIONS BETWEEN THEMSELVES
AND ALL THE
PARTIES, INCLUDING THE UNITED STATES, AND THE
DETENTE
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. THEY WERE AWARE THEY WERE
ENTERING
INTO A COMPLICATED SITUATION. IT HAD
PROVEN TO BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR
THE ICCS TO ACCOMPLISH
ITS MISSION. THERE WERE ONLY 1200 PEOPLE
INVOLVED,
A SMALL NUMBER IN VIEW OF THE OBJECTIVE OF ASSURING
PEACE
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IN SOUTH VIETNAM. MOREOVER, CONDITIONS IN SOUTH VIETNAM
WERE VERY
DIFFICULT. THERE HAD BEEN MANY VIOLATIONS BY THE
SOUTH VIETNAMESE
FORCES. SECURITY CONDITIONS FOR THE
POLISH DELEGATION WERE VERY
DIFFICULT. BUT THE POLISH
GOVERNMENT WAS INTERESTED IN CLEARING THIS
SITUATION UP
AND OF FULFILLING ITS INTENTION OF MAKING A
CONTRIBUTION
TO PEACE. AMBASSADOR WASILEWSKI HAD ARRIVED IN WARSAW
AND
IN CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM, THE POLISH GOVERNMENT
WANTS TO
SEE WHAT CAN BE DONE TO CLEAR THE SITUATION UP.
TREPCZYNSKI EXPECTED
TO SEE HIS HUNGARIAN COUNTERPART, VICE
MINISTER JARJAI, IN THE NEXT
FEW DAYS FOR CONSULTATIONS.
THE POLES WANT TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION,
BUT THE
COMMISSION HAS VERY LIMITED POSSIBILITIES. THAT IS WHY
THEY
WOULD NOT LIKE TO SEE A LINK MADE BETWEEN THE WORK OF
THE
ICCS AND US-POLISH BILATERAL RELATIONS. TREPCZYNSKI
ADDED
THAT HE HAD BEEN INFORMED ONLY A FEW MINUTES BEFORE MY
CALL
THAT A HELICOPTER HAD BEEN SHOT DOWN “SOMEWHERE IN
SOUTH
VIETNAM” WITH THREE POLISH OFFICERS IN IT; DETAILS
WERE
LACKING SO FAR. THIS ILLUSTRATED THE DIFFICULTIES
UNDER
WHICH THE ICCS WORKED. MOREOVER, THE SAIGON GOVERNMENT
DOES
NOT SEEM TO BE MOVING TO FULFILL THE POLITICAL
PROVISIONS
OF THE PEACE AGREEMENTS. WE WOULD NOTE
THAT THE POLISH PRESS HAD
STOPPED PUBLISHING THE KIND
OF REPORTS ON THE SITUATION IN VIETNAM
WHICH WE HAD
CHARACTERIZED AS TENDENTIOUS. THERE HAD BEEN
SOME
INACCURACIES IN THESEREPORTS AND THAT KIND OF
PRESS
COVERAGE HAD BEEN STOPPED. IN CONCLUSION, TREPCZYNSKI
HAD
SAID, THE DIFFICULTIES WERE GREAT, BUT THE POLISH
GOVERNMENT WAS NOW
MOVING TO SEE WHAT COULD BE DONE TO
CLEAR THEM UP.
3. I SAID THAT WE HAD BEEN OVER THIS GROUND BEFORE, BUT
I WISHED TO
POINT OUT: ( A) WE HAD NEVER CONTENDED THERE
WERE VIOLATIONS ON ONE
SIDE ONLY. THE POINT WAS THAT
THERE APPEARED TO BE NO GREAT
DIFFICULTY IN THE ICCS IN
AGREEING TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
ON THE SAIGON
SIDE. THE DIFFICULTY AROSE WHEN THE CHARGES DEALT
WITH
DRV/PRG VIOLATIONS. THEN THE POLES AND HUNGARIANS
FOUND
WAYS TO DELAY, OBSTRUCT, AND FRUSTRATE THE HOLDING
OF
INVESTIGATIONS AND THE SUBMISSION OF REPORTS. WITH
THE
EXPERIENCE THE POLES HAD HAD IN THE OLD ICC, WE HAD
EXPECTED
THEM NOT TO FALL INTO THE OLD TRAP WHICH HAD FRUSTRATED
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THE EFFORTS OF THAT BODY. IT WAS NECESSARY THAT JUSTICE SHOULD
BE
DONE IMPARTIALLY AND OBJECTIVELY TO CHARGES REGARDING
ALL
VIOLATIONS. ( B) TALKS HERE, AND IN SAIGON, ABOUT
ADMINISTRATIVE
AND SECURITY DIFFICULTIES LOOKED TO US LIKE YET
ANOTHER MEANS
OF AVOIDING THE ISSUE. THE CANDADIANS
AND
INDONESIANS WORKED UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS AS THE
POLES
AND HUNGARIANS. SO THE MINISTER COULD UNDERSTAND
OUR CONVICTION THAT
INVESTIGATIONS COULD BE UNDERTAKEN
AND IMPARTIAL REPORTS PRODUCED,
IF THE WILL EXISTED TO
DO SO. ( C) NO ONE HAD EXPECTED THAT THE ICCS
WOULD
FIND ITS TASK AN EASY ONE. BUT THE POLES HAD
UNDERTAKEN
THIS OBLIGATION, A CONCRETE SITUATION NOW
EXISTED IN VIETNAM, WHICH
MUST BE DEALT WITH, AND WE
EXPECTED THE REVIEW THE POLISH GOVERNMENT
WAS NOW UNDER-
TAKING TO RESULT IN IMPROVEMENTS. I COULD ADD ON
A
PERSONAL BASIS THAT I HAD HEARD IN WARSAW SOME
CYNICAL
COMMENTS TO THE EFFECT THAT THE PEACE AGREEMENTS
WERE
SIMPLY DESIGNED TO COVER RELEASE OF US PRISONERS AND
WITH-
DRAWAL OF US FORCES FROM VIETNAM, FOLLOWING WHICH WE
WOULD
WASH OUR HANDS OF THE WHOLE SITUATION. NOTHING COULD
BE
FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH. INDEED, THE RETURN OF OUR
PRISONERS
AND TROOPS HAD ONLY INCREASED THE FEELING
OF OUR PEOPLE THAT THOSE
WHO WERE NOT SO FORTUNATE AND HAD
DIED IN VIETNAM MUST NOT HAVE DONE
SO IN VAIN. ( D) WITH
REGARD TO THE CONNECTION BETWEEN POLISH
PARTICIPATION IN
THE ICCS AND US-POLISH BILATERAL RELATIONS, I
REGARDED THIS
AS A POLITICAL FACT OF NATURE, AS I HAD EXPLAINED TO
SPASOWSKI
EARLIER. THE MINISTER COULD NOT EXPECT THAT SUCH A
CONNECTION
WOULD NOT BE MADE. WHEN I THOUGHT OF ALL THE ACTIVITIES
NOW
GOING ON, E. G., THE VISIT OF EX-IM BANK PRESIDENT
KEARNS,
AND THE PROMISE THEY HAVE FOR THE FUTURE, IT
SEEMED TO ME ALL
THEMORE IMPERATIVE THAT EFFECTIVE STEPS
BE TAKEN TO IMPROVE
DECISIVELY THE WORK OF THE POLISH
DELEGATION IN THE ICCS.
4. THE MINISTER REPEATED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD
BE ACTIVELY
REVIEWING THIS WHOLE QUESTION IN THE NEXT
FEW DAYS.
CONFIDENTIAL
- Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy Files. Confidential; Exdis; Immediate. Repeated immediate to Jakarta, Ottawa, Saigon, the White House, and the Delegation to the JEC in Paris. In telegram 59897 to Warsaw, March 31, the Department detailed Deputy Secretary Rush’s protest to Hungarian Ambassador Szabo. (Ibid.)↩
- Ambassador Davies reported on a conversation with Polish Acting Foreign Minister Trepczynski in which he protested the Polish and Hungarian conduct on the International Commission of Control and Supervision in Vietnam.↩