SITUATION REPORTS - POLAND

Created: 8/21/1980

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

SITUATION REPORTS

POLAND

Cardinal ihjssynski haa appealed for calm and honest work in an apparent effort to help ease the tense situation, ff*

Wyszyuski'son Sunday and first publicized yesterdayolish-language Vaticaneffect supports tha regime's calleturn to work. The Primate also chided the government, however, to borrow less, export less, and better satisfy the people's needs and rights. He also made his usual demand for freedom of speech, echoing one of the demands of the Gdansk strikers. The regime, eager for any help from the Church, aired his statements on prime timelast evening in the form of an interviewatholic deputy to the Polish parliament, flf

In Gdansk, the regime has made its refusal towith the Unified Strikeatter ofprinciple. Jan Szydlak, paity Politburo member and trade-union boss, said that "the authorities dc hot intend to give up thalr power, nor to share it witnelse." Pursuing its efforts to split tho strikers, the government negotiating team reportedly has concluded agreements withndividual strike committees. Leaders of the joint strike committee, however, who now claim to represent workersnterprises, assert that only two strike committees have even held talks with tha government,

Tha arrest in Warsaw ofeading members of tha dissident Committee for Social Self Defense is clearly intended to limit the spread of information on strike developments. During the seven weeks of labor unrest, members of the committee have provided information to Western journalists. Some committee members in Gdansk, who presumably remain free, have also helped provide leadership and encouragement to thu Baltic coast strikers. 4Tmf>

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The government has often detained dissidents forours, but na/ decide to keep this group in custody longer. Regime leaders probably hope the arrests vill not add significant impetus to the Baltic strikes and apparently are willing to absorb the foreign criticism that this action is certain to generate. wM%*

Strike activity in the Western port city of Szczecin has spread tonterprises and has been accompanied bv the issuance of political demands similar to those made in Cdans.r. it remains unclear whether steel workers in the southern town of Nowa Huta havo returned to work aftei hort strike on Tuesda fM0

Security Activity

reports indicatearge number of police are in tent camps on the edge of the city and claim that acme strikers have gone out to argue their cause with the policemen, sfj asm

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In western Poland, major elementsolishinfantry divisicn VftVVmsVsffsmft on Tuesday in convoy activity at their garrisons near Szczecin. The division recently returned tc garrison from field Although there are strikes in Szczecin, we boliove that regular military forces would be employedolice rclc onlyast resort. IfBajmam

Soviet Jamming

Moscow yesterday began Jamming major Westernto the DSSR in an effort to limit the effect news on the Polish strikes might have on the Soviet population. Soviet sensitivity on this score probably stems froo the labor unrest at major factories in Gorkiy and Togliatti in June. The Poles apparently have not followed the Soviet lead by jamming Westerninto Polar,:.

The USSR'sagainst Voice of America,'

the British Broadcasting Corporation, and Deutsche Welle

is its first such action Moscow took the same step In8 during its invasion of fmWP

The renewed jamming is certain to complicate the USSR's defense of its record of adherence to thoFinal Act at tha upcoming CSCE review meeting in Madrid. The British Foreign Office has already conde the jammingiolation of the Helsinki accords.

inistry "official re-for Poland and told esBBmVmmamB**

that he strongly endorsed the course party sader Gierek has taken. Emphasizing that the situation was under control, heoviet academician'say earlier that the USSR would render Poland itoyer economic aid lt could to weather the crisi!

addedhoufa*solveTiew

hemselves.

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