EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79B00864A000800010137-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 137
• Publication Date: January 9, 1968
• Content Type: REPORT

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6 EASTERN EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCER OCI #0679/68
9 January 1968
Poles Arrest US and Canadian Attaches
Two allied military attaches were detained by Polish
authorities on 4 January in Bydgoszcz for "abusing their
diplomatic immunity" by photographing military installa
tions. Lt. Col. Metzger, Acting USARMA, and Lt. Col.
Jefferson, Assistant Canadian Military Attache, were
apprehended when Jefferson stopped before a Polish Air
Force installation in downtown Bydgoszcz to photograph
radar antennas on the roof. Both men were interrogated
for nearly 12 hours and neither was permitted to phone his
Embassy.
The cameras, film, military ID cards, and various
persona]. items were confiscated by the Polish security
police (UB) before the men were released and allowed to
return to Warsaw. The US'Embassy protested on 5 January
the treatment accorded Metzger as a violation of his
diplomatic immunity. A Polish Foreign Ministry official
rejected the protest and said it, would do no good to deny
"that Metzger had a camera and took photographs because
we might; be showing you his camera and photographs," which
when developed will include, along with Jefferson's, nearly
forty snapshots of Polish military installations.
25X1
The Canadian Embassy made a similar representation on
behalf of their attache on 6 January which was met with the
same rebuff as ours. The Polish Foreign Ministry official,
however, expressed "regret that the Canadian military attache 25X1
had joined the US attache in open intelligence work."
GROUP I
EXCLUDED FROM AUTOMATIC DOWN-
GRADING AND DECLASSIFICATION
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COMMENT: While military attaches everywhere perform
this sort of intelligence collection its always embarrassing
when one gets caught with his "hand in the cookie jar."
This incident is doubly embarrassing in Warsaw where we
recently concluded an agreement increasing the size of this
military attache staff. Despite the obvious implications
of the incident, the US intends to protest the violation
of diplomatic immunity to counter Polish charges and hope
that quiet will quickly be restored.
Yugoslav Government Threatens to Resign
The newspaper Politika has been accused by Radio Belgrade
of being indiscreet for revealing that the federal government
had threatened its collective resignation if the Federal
Assembly failed to adopt a proposed series of economic
measures for 1968. Two Assembly houses, the Economic and
the Organizational-Political Councils, had rejected some
of the measures, particularly one on taxation. Two roll 25X1
calls were required to force through the compromise proposal
to veep personal income taxes from exceeding 26 percent
COMMENT: This
is
the first time that the
federal govern
-
ment has threatened
to
resi
n if it
l
t
g
s proposa
s
were
no
accepted. According
to
the Assembly by-laws of
May
1967,
the government may resign if it does not agree
with
the
views of the federal legislature. The only previous
use
of such tactics led to the short-lived resignation of the
government of Slovenia in December 1967, when one of its
social security bills was rejected by one house of the
Slovenian Assembly.
Poles Claim US Not Interested in Peace
Poland has reiterated charges that the US is not
interested in peace talks on Vietnam. Foreign Minister
Rapacki told a press conference in Warsaw on 6 January
that US declarations that it would stop the bombing if
Hanoi gave any hint that it was willing to negotiate are
"something worse than empty phrases." Rapacki declared
that the US "does not want negotiations at present" but
side-stepped questions regarding reports that the US
thwarted peace efforts in 1966 by staging air raids on
Hanoi.
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SF.:C;R FT
Trybuna Ludu, the leading party daily, carried a story
on 8 January by its Washington correspondent headlined "Why
the US Bides Its Time." The story claimed that "influential circles
in the US" camouflage outright rejections of offers to
negotiate by stalling for time. During the intier.'ir,., the
paper states, the US then steps up its offensive in
Vietnam, and cited the recent "big" air raid on Haiphong
which allegedly resulted in damage to a Soviet ship as 25X1
Washington's response to North Vietnamese deputy premier
Trinh's recent offer to negotiate after a cessation of the
bombing.
US Ambassador and Chinese Charge Meet in Warsaw
Ambassador Gronouski and acting Chinese Charge Chen
Tung talked for more than two hours on 8 January. This
was the 134th meeting since 1955 and the first time that
Peking was represented by someone below the ambassadorial
level.
The absence of Ambassador Wang is believed by some
observers to indicate that the Chinese wish to convey the
impression that they have notring of significance to discuss
with the US and thus have downgraded the level of the
talks. The next meeting is set for 29 May. Chen evaded
reporters' questions as to whether Wang would attend. The
Chinese Charge described his replacement of Wang at the
latest meeting as only a "provisional measure." Ambassador
Gronouski called the talks "invaluable" and said that the
US "continued to hope that the meetings can serve to reduce
tension between our two countries and ultimately throughout
East Asia."
COMMENT: Wang is believed to be in Peking; he left
Warsaw after his meeting with Gronouski in June 1967.
Cardinal Wyszynski Injured Slightly in Accident
Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Roman Catholic Primate of
Poland, was reportedly "shaken up" but otherwise unhurt
in an automobile accident on an icy highway near Poznan on
5 January. An early,report claimed that a priest riding
with the Cardinal received first aid following the accident
but did not mention any injury to Wyszynski. In a
subsequent report the following day, however, the Cardinal
was noted as being unable to take part in an Epiphany mass
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in Warsaw. The 66-year old prelate allegedly was bandaged
about the face due to a cut sustained in the accident.
COMMENT: The car skidded into a tree and, as is often
the case in accidents of this type, the Cardinal may
not have felt the effects until the following day. The
Cardinal's secretariat confirmed that Wyszynski and the
two priests accompanying him all received "slight"
injuries but apparently there was no cause for alarm.
Yugoslavs Chide US on Bombing Investigation
The Belgrade press has again criticized the US govern--
ment's handling of the investigation of the bombing by
emigres of Yugoslav diplomatic installations in Washington, 25X1
San Francisco, and Chicago in January 1967. Both Politika 25X1
and Borba on 4 and 5 January accuse the US of not wish n
to br n~ gthe culprits to justice.
COMMENT: The grand jury which has been hearing the
case for many months has suspended its deliberation with
no indictments. Apparently US authorities know the
emigres involved, but lack sufficient evidence for prosecul.ion.
NOTE: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ABOVE REPRESENT
ONLY THE ANALYSIS OF THE EE DIVISION
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