USSR/EASTERN EUROPE: MOUNTING CAMPAIGN AGAINST RADIO FREE EUROPE AND RADIO LIBERTY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP72-00337R000500270060-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 10, 2007
• Sequence Number: 60
• Publication Date: February 22, 1971
• Content Type: PAPER

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NINTELL IG
BUREAU OF INTELLICENCF AND RESEARCIULEGIB
Ic.tu~rv 22. 1971
SR/BASTE N
RADIO FREE EUROPE AND RADIO LIBERTY
? a - 1LJ '
EUROPE. MOUNTING CAMPAIGN AGAINST
Although the attacks of the Warsaw Pact nations against RFE and RL
(as well as -- to a lesser extent -- the VOA, BBC, and other Western broad-
casting stations) have been a constant feature of bloc propaganda since
the early 1950's, the volume and intensity of the attacks on these two
stations during the past month is believed to exceed considerably all
attacks in 1970.1 They have increased markedly since the Polish riots in
December 1970 and, particularly, since the late January proposal of US
Senator Case on financing of RFE and RL. All the Warsaw Pact regimes have
since carried articles or commentaries related to the Case statements
and to RFE/RL ties to the CIA.
Content in Latest Campaign. In addition to various attacks on the
US Government for its operation and control of the two stations on foreign
territory, commentary has increasingly criticized the Prandt Government
for re nnittingthe stations to remain on "sovereign" FRG territory and to
broadcast "cold war" commentary -- at a time when the Brandt Government
profi1sses to seek detente and normalization of its relations with Eastern
Europe. As an earnest of the FRG's good will and intentions, calls have
been made for the removal of the stations from Nest German territory.
tie same tf me nly - u~l gari a, CzecTiCSloval. i a , ui a the 7l ! cont I nue
to Jam RFE/RL broadcasts.
This report wa, pr,dn,rd by the Bureau SECRET/LIMITED DISTRIBUTION
of Inlelligrnre and ~e,eorch Aside from
n^rmol suhstantwe exchange with other
ogeacies of the working level, it has not I I 25X1
State Dept. revieviv Completed
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Some East European regimes have hinted or threatened boycott of the
1972 Olympics in Munich unless the stations cease operations in that city.
The Poles -- and -:o a lesser extent the East Germans -- have charged
the station with supporting violence and excesses in Polish cities during
the December riots; the East Germans and Moscow in particular have also
found it convenient to link the two stations with reactionary elements in
the FRG and the US opposed to Ostp olitik and charged them with subverting
"good neighborly relations" between the FRG and Eastern Europe.
Coordinated Campaign Evident. The conclusion that the bloc campaign
is systematic and coordinated is supported by the fact that various
regimes have drawn on attacks published elsewhere. For example, the
Hungarian Party central organ attack on RFE -- which included a 1967
memorandum from former Free Europe Committee President Richardson to
Senator Eastland thanking the latter for his "intervention" in the question
of RFE survival - was referred to by the Soviet Party organ, Pravda.
The Pravda article in turn was summarized by Radio Moscow broadcasts to
Slovakia and by a Czechoslovak radio station. Bloc propaganda has also
publicized Western and FRG press criticism of RFE and RL in an effort to
further the campaign.
Diplomatic Demarches to the FRG and the US. In addition to the
propaganda campaign waged by the media, diplomatic demarches have been
made to the US and FRG over the issue of RFE broadcasts. In 1968 and
1969, Romanian Deputy Foreign Minister Macovescu made two unpublicized
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mild r~ernarches to Bonn, apparently in the context of conversations on
ether subjects. During the Ceausescu visit to the US last fall, Dumitru
Popescu, in charge of Romanian cultural-media activities, attacked RFE
in conversations with a US official, maintaining that the station inter-
fered in Romanian internal affairs. At no time, however, have the
Romanians appeared inclined to make RFE more than a marginal issue in
bilateral relations with either the US or FRG.
On the other hand, the Polish regime has made more serious demarches
to the US and FRG on the question of RFE. In 1970, the Poles were re-
ported to have mentioned RFE broadcasts several times during the course
of Polish-FRG negotiations and, on one occasion, implied that contin-
uation of the broadcasts could complicate Polish agreement to an FRG
request for a softer propaganda-cultural policy vis-a-vis West Germany.
The Poles have also made demarches to US officials which charged,
inter alia, that RFE broadcasts to Poland were an irritant to both the
Polish Government and the population. In a January 6, 1971, discussion betwer_?n
Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Winiewicz and US Ambassador Stoessel,
Winiewicz said Poland considered RFE broadcasts an irritant in its
relations with the US. He charged that these broadcasts to Poland in
December 1970 were unnecessarily provocative, spread false rumors, spoke
offensively of Polish political personalities, and speculated on leader-
ship changes. While he did not single out any individual broadcasts, he
said that their whole tone was objectionable.
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P. second Polish Foreign Ministry official told a US Ernhassy Officer
in Warsaw that should the RFE "cold war rhetoric" persist, the Polish
Covernment would be forced to draw "inescapable conclusions." (In this
instance VOA broadcasts were attacked as well.)
Although Czechoslovakia has long been in the forefront of East
European attacks on RFE, the government is not known to have made any
formal demarches on RFE to either US or FRG officials. It is possible
that such a demarche will be made in the forthcoming Czechoslovak-West
Cerman negotiations on normalization of relations. However, during the
December 1970 trial of US citizen Fred Eidlin on charges of gathering
information on the political and economic situation in Czechoslovakia for
RFE, the Czechoslovak prosecutor declared that the Czechoslovak Supreme
Court had ruled in 1970 that RFE was a "subversive organization."
Reflections on Bloc Campaign. The Case statements on PFE and RL
unquestionably provided a new source of material and a new focal point
for a systematic, concerted campaign against the two stations. In addition,
another factor allegedly affecting the present campaign is the approaching
renewa'I of the permits of the two stations to continue their activities in
Munich: the FRG must decide by June 1, 1971,whether to renew the licenses--
a fact recently belabored in Bulgarian propaganda.
Nvareness of a new FRG sensitivity to the Soviet-East European
protests must also he a contributing factor to their campaign to close down
the st-71tions. These regimes undoubtedly feel that they can better exert
pressure on the FRG -- in view of Ostpolitik and the avowed intention of
the Brandt Government to normalize relations with Eastern European nations.
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These nations have long considered the two stations (as well as other
Western broadcasting stations) an irritant and would welcome their demise.
At the same time, however, their demise is not likely to be a high-priority
issue -- except, perhaps for the Poles -- in relations with the FRG --
certainly not of the magnitude of the Western recognition of the status
quo in Europe inclusive of the Oder-Neisse border, an abrogation of
Munich ab initio, and the FRG's recognition of the GDR. There is no evidence
that the East European regimes are prepared to pay any price, such as abating
their propaganda, for any change in the status of the stations. At this juncture,
it appears unlikely that any of the regimes would boycott the 1972 Olympics
if the two stations were operating in Munich at that time. It cannot be aair_
however, that the presence of the two stations on the territory of the
well as their very existence and system of financing, provide convenient material
for the propagandists of the various regimes.
INR/USSR and Eastern Europ
Released by: `' t
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Director: IMTobin
Analyst: PJCosto-anski
Ext.: 21424
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