A. Petrov, The Intrigues of Socialist Poland’s Enemies. September 1, 1980
The first official Soviet commentary on the crisis in Poland came one day after the Gdansk Accords were signed by the Polish government and representatives of the lnterfactory Committee (Solidarity), the first such agreements ever in the Eastern bloc. Note, however, that no mention was made of the historic accords between the government and the opposition, while Poland’s security role in the Warsaw Pact is stressed. The initial Soviet denunciation was against “anti-socialist elements,” who were planning a “counterrevolution” in Poland. Similar charges had been leveled twelve years earlier during the Czechoslovak Prague Spring.
Original Source: Pravda, 1 September 1980, p. 5.
The Polish press is at present devoting attention to the fact that the antisocialist elements are not letting up their attempts to use the complex situation which has been created in the country in order to aggravate both political and economic difficulties. Trybuna Ludu, the organ of the PUWP Central Committee, says: “Antisocialist elements in a number of places are striving for a continuation of the strikes, presenting for this purpose new demands, including political ones, and whipping up tension. They ignore the fact that this poisons the political atmosphere in the country and threatens the emergence of anarchy in public life, and they ignore the possible consequences for the state and the people. ” It is obvious from press reports that antisocialist elements succeeded in penetrating a number of enterprises on the Polish coast, primarily in Gdansk, in abusing the trust of part of the working class, and in using the economic difficulties for their counterrevolutionary aims.
Government commissions have taken into practical consideration the demands put forward by the workers’ representatives. The viewpoint of the government commissions in Gdansk and Szczecin and the results of their negotiations were expounded at the PUWP Central Committee Plenum held on 30 August.
However, antisocialist elements are continuing to put to the foreground political demands, which reveal their real intention, which are remote from the economic and social interests of the Polish working class. The tactics of such elements, who are operating at a series of enterprises on the coast, are in fact directed toward a continuation of the work stoppages and disorganization of the life of the country.
They are inflicting direct damage to real socialism in the Polish land. They want to destroy the link between the party and working class, the chief source of strength of the PUWP and the Polish state. It is precisely for this reason that the antisocialist elements find support among Poland’s enemies operating from outside. It is precisely for this reason that the mass information media in the West are building up a slanderous and provocateur campaign against the Polish People’s Republic.
These actions are aimed at hindering in every possible way the restoration of a normal rhythm of work and public life in Poland, at inflicting the maximum possible damage to its economic and social development and to the socialist gains of the Polish people. Is this not demonstrated by the fact that, while the Polish people and their economy need supplies of foodstuffs and raw materials essential to Polish agriculture, industry and factories, the reactionary trade unions in the United States refuse to load ships going to Poland. And all this is done under the guise of ” solidarity” with Polish workers.
The rightwing press of the FRG continues to publish material of an inflammatory and revanchist nature. The newspaper Deutsche Wochenzeitung proposes, for instance, that the “former German territories” be demanded from the Government of the Polish People’s Republic as a guarantee for the granting of credit. A provocative demonstration of Christian Democratic Union supporters was held in Bonn under the slogan of a revised “political structure” for socialist Poland.
The antisocialist elements in Poland are trying to coordinate their actions with the reactionary Polish »migr»s and subversion centers operating in the West. It is becoming clearer with each passing day that the inflammatory activity from abroad is dictated not at all by the concern for the well-being of the Polish working people. The aim of these circles is to inflict damage on the socialist gains of the Polish people, to attempt to turn Poland from the path it embarked on by the wish of the people after the liberation from the German fascist aggressors.
Trybuna Ludu notes that Poland occupies an important place on the European Continent and in European politics, and that it is a member of the defense alliance of the Warsaw Pact member states and is a member of CMEA. Poland plays an important role in the center of Europe as an element of peace and stability on the European Continent.
Trybuna Ludu justly emphasizes that “everyone who is fully aware of his responsibility should have a clear idea of the line which separates just demands from those demands which threaten the interests of the state.”
Source: Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Daily Report (2 September 1980), F1-F2.