HL Deb 08 February 1982 vol 427 cc81-3WA
Lord Orr-Ewing

asked Her Majesty's Government:

If they will make a statement on the outcome of the allied consultations on Poland in the North Atlantic Council on 3rd February.

Lord Trefgarne

A declaration by the Foreign Ministers of the member states of NATO was made at their meeting on 11th January, and a copy placed in the Library of the House. Since then the North Atlantic Council has met twice to review the situation. At the second of these meetings, held on 3rd February, it was noted with regret that the Polish military regime had not taken any of the three steps to which the Foreign Ministers attached particular importance—lifting of martial law, release of those arrested and resumption of a dialogue with the Church and Solidarity—nor has the Soviet Union ceased to bring pressure to bear upon Poland. In the circumstances, it was agreed to pursue and as necessary strengthen actions along the lines set out in the ministerial declaration of 11th January.

These measures are as follows. With respect to Poland, Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (i) have imposed travel restrictions on Polish diplomats and certain other official Polish representatives in London and Glasgow;
  2. (ii) will ensure that their relations with the military régime in Poland reflect the abnormal nature of the present situation;
  3. (iii) have increased BBC broadcasts in the Polish language to Poland;
  4. (iv) will give financial or other assistance to help co-ordinate the efforts of those voluntary and Church agencies in Britain which are providing humanitarian aid to Poland;
  5. (v) have agreed with other Western official creditors that the question of rescheduling of Poland's 1982 official debt should, for the time being, be held in suspense;
  6. (vi) have placed in abeyance existing officially guaranteed credits to Poland subject to safeguarding the interests of British firms having legal binding contractual obligations;
  7. (vii) will not for the present make available any new credits for Poland;
  8. (viii) have agreed with our Community partners that there should be no further sales of European Community food at special prices to Poland. Funds that would have been made available for this purpose will now be diverted to the provision of humanitarian aid through the voluntary agencies and Church agencies. As a result of this decision, there is up to 35 mecu (approximately £19 million) available for this purpose of which the Commission is putting forward a proposal for the early allocation of 8 mecu (approximately £4.5 million).

With respect to the Soviet Union Her Majesty's Government:

  1. (i) have imposed additional restrictions on the travel of Soviet officials based in the United Kingdom;
  2. (ii) will reduce the level of activity under four Anglo-Soviet technical co-operation agreements, in the fields of medicine and public health, environmental protection, agricultural research and atomic energy;
  3. (iii) have introduced a licensing system which covers Soviet factory ships transhipping fish caught in United Kingdom waters;
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  4. (iv) have given notice that they intend to renegotiate the terms of the Anglo-Soviet Treaty on Merchant Navigation;
  5. (v) are exploring with Community partners the possibility of reclassifying the Soviet Union within the OECD export credit consensus (on which we expect early agreement in the Community) and of trade policy measures regarding Soviet exports to the Community.