Slight Change of Heart

The Reagan Administration offered a modest olive branch to Poland last week. Encouraged by Warsaw's decision to free 652 political prisoners, the U.S. decided to lift some of the sanctions it had applied after Polish leaders imposed martial law in 1981. LOT, the Polish airline, will again be permitted to land in the U.S., and scientific exchanges between the two countries will be resumed. Moreover, if the Polish government completely carries out the announced amnesty, the U.S. will go one additional step: it will withdraw its opposition to Poland's desire for membership in the International Monetary Fund. Until the Polish government softens its restrictive attitude toward labor unions, however, the U.S. will continue to deny American agricultural commodity credits and refuse most-favored-nation trading status to Poland.

Some Administration officials opposed the policy change on the grounds that it helps legitimize the rigid regime of Wojciech Jaruzelski. Supporters of the Administration move argued that the sanctions have only hurt the Polish people. In the end, said a U.S. official, with an eye on the sizable Polish-American vote, the decision was "80% domestic politics."