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Poland The United States
Over the years, a special relationship evolved between
the
peoples of Poland and the United States. Poles and persons
of
Polish ancestry made enormous contributions at every stage
in the
development of the United States. For Poles, family ties
and
genuine admiration for the United States negated decades
of
official anti-American propaganda. As official relations
between
Washington and Warsaw deteriorated after the December 1981
imposition of martial law, the United States maintained
communication with the centers of Polish opposition,
including
leaders of labor, the intelligentsia, and the Roman
Catholic
Church. During the 1980s, United States policies of
economic
sanctions against the regime and support for the
opposition
contributed to the ultimate fall of the communist
government.
Immediately after Jaruzelski imposed martial law in
1981, the
United States invoked economic sanctions against Poland.
In 1982
the United States suspended most-favored-nation trade
status and
vetoed Poland's application for membership in the
International
Monetary Fund. In the following years, Warsaw repeatedly
blamed
such United States policies for Poland's economic distress
(see Reform Failure in the 1980s
, ch. 3). For the period 1981
to 1985,
the Polish government claimed that United States-inspired
sanctions and Western refusal to reschedule debts and
extend
additional credit had cost the Polish economy US$15
billion in
export income and other losses.
Despite the end of martial law and limited amnesty for
political prisoners in 1983, relations with the United
States did
not improve. In the mid-1980s, Warsaw's determined efforts
to
prove its loyalty to the Soviet Union made rapprochement
with
Washington impossible. Poland supported the Soviet version
of
events surrounding the shooting down of a Korean Airlines
passenger plane in 1983, an incident that greatly
heightened
Soviet Union-United States tensions. In 1984 Warsaw joined
the
Soviet boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic Games in
reprisal for
the United States boycott of the previous games in Moscow.
Jaruzelski delivered a scathing attack against United
States
sanctions policy in a 1985 speech at the United Nations.
And in
1986 the Polish government condemned the United States air
strike
against Libya.
Official relations between Washington and Warsaw began
to
improve after the Jaruzelski government's 1986 general
amnesty
released all political prisoners. By early 1987, the
administration of Ronald W. Reagan lifted all economic
sanctions
and restored Poland's most-favored-nation trading status.
Vice
President George H.W. Bush visited Warsaw the following
October
and promised United States support for debt rescheduling
in
return for the Polish government's pledge to respect human
rights. In 1988, however, the United States decided to
withhold
economic aid until Poland reestablished political
pluralism.
After the Round Table Agreement of mid-1989, the United
States moved quickly to encourage democratic processes and
assist
economic reform in Poland. Toward this goal, President
Bush
initially promised some US$100 million in economic
assistance,
and a three-year package totaling US$1 billion was
proposed later
in the year. In November Walesa visited Washington and
addressed
a joint session of the United States Congress, which
greeted his
unprecedented speech with promises of additional economic
assistance. The Congress enacted the Support for Eastern
European
Democracy Act (SEED) to streamline the delivery of
humanitarian
aid and assistance for the development of democracy and
freemarket institutions in postcommunist Eastern Europe. An
interagency coordinating council led by the Department of
State
was established to direct assistance to Eastern Europe.
The
privately managed Polish-American Enterprise Fund (PAEF)
was
created in May 1990 to provide credit for Polish
entrepreneurs to
start businesses. Contingent on the level of congressional
funding, the PAEF estimated that it would make US$130
million in
loans in 1991. Another nongovernmental organization, the
Overseas
Private Investment Corporation, began providing loans,
loan
guarantees, insurance, and advice to facilitate United
States
private investment in Poland and other East European
countries.
In 1990 the United States led an international effort to
create
the US$200 million Polish Stabilization Fund, which was
instrumental in making the zloty convertible with Western
currencies (for value of the
zloty--see Glossary).
As a major player in such international financial
institutions as the
World Bank (see Glossary), the IMF,
the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD--see Glossary),
the
Paris Club (see Glossary), and the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD--see Glossary),
the United States led the effort to provide debt relief and
other
economic assistance to Poland. In early 1991, the United
States
pledged a further 20 percent reduction of Warsaw's debt to
Washington. In a mid-1992 visit to Warsaw, President Bush
praised
Poland's political and economic reforms and proposed using
the
currency-stabilization fund to spur private-sector growth.
Data as of October 1992
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