mts@uunet.uu.net (08/25/89)
/* Written 12:19 am Aug 23, 1989 by gn:mts in cdp:mts.press */
/* ---------- "524: William Waldegrave: East/West" ---------- */
Media Transcription Service : Defence Information,
David & Susan Stott,
12 Sheri Drive, NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS,
Warrington. WA12 8PT
Telephone: Newton-le-Willows 0925 226647
GreenNet: "mts"
--------------------------------------------------
TRANSCRIPT Ref No. 524
Channel 4 News : Tuesday, 22nd August, 1989
Interview with William Waldegrave
re. Eastern Bloc/East-West relations
Interviewer (Jon Snow):
"The Foreign Office Minister, William Waldegrave, warned the
Eastern Bloc that the whole fabric of relations with the West could
be jeopardised if the changes in Poland were reversed. I asked him
earlier from his West Country home, what the British Government
might do to help a future Solidarity Government?"
William Waldegrave:
"Well, I think what we must do is to welcome, with immense
wholeheartedness, a Poland with a government supported genuinely by
its own people into the Family of Nations. Now that means a whole
range of symbolic things, if you like. But in terms of practicality
it also means taking every step in response to Poland's request of
the Bretton Wood institutions, the IMF, the World Bank and so
forth, to help them sort out the very serious economic problems
which the Communists have left them. And they, if they continue
down this road - and I do emphasise that the transition isn't yet
complete and it could be reversed, all kinds of things could go
wrong - but if they go on down this road, well, they then should
get the full support of those institutions and the financial
backing that they represent."
Jon Snow:
"It sounds a bit as if British unilateral help will hide
behind the international effort. Are you not prepared to do
something unilaterally?"
William Waldegrave:
"Yes. Now there (are) two sets of categories of things. One
where we can and are doing some unilateral things, and will do more
- is actually to help the transition, to help with the skills, to
help with the political advice, to help with the economic advice -
then there is the help which is available from us, from the
Japanese, from the Germans, from the Americans, from the French,
with the huge financial backing which comes when agreements are
reached with the IMF and the other institutions, which isn't a
matter unilaterally for us at all. But we do have a role which we
have already started, which goes back of course to the Prime
Minister's own crucial intervention last year. And we won't forget
that we have very strong bi-lateral connections with Poles going
back this year for fifty years."
Jon Snow:
"But surely in the short term, Minister, what the Poles need is
some proof that some big change is coming, food on the shelves, for
example. What about some emergency cash injection specifically from
ourselves?"
William Waldegrave:
"Well, they haven't asked us for such a thing. And if the new
government is properly established, as I think we all now believe
it will be, we, I am sure, with our partners will look as
positively as we can, we have of course tried to help with
emergency food aid in the European Community already. And, above
all, perhaps the most important things we can do is to recognise
that we in the Community are now the world's greatest economic
super power in a trading sense, and access to our markets is going
to be absolutely crucial. But these things are for the Polish
Government to formulate. It's very early days for them to do that
as yet. We will await their requests in a positive spirit, if I can
put it that way."
Jon Snow:
"You have expressed your fears of the possibility of reversion
in Poland. What is there that can be done to warn the authorities
in - the Communist Authorities - in Poland, who are still reluctant
to go with this movement. What can be done to warn them of the
consequences if they do revert to old practices?"
William Waldegrave:
"Well I think there are two aspects to it. One is that we must
make it very, very clear, both in the Soviet Union and in Eastern
Europe itself, that the whole structure of the warming of relations
world-wide between the Soviet Union and the United States, between
the Soviet Union and the West Europe, between dealing with regional
problems around the world, a whole new structure depends on no
reversion to the old-style Brezhnevite/Stalinite suppression of
freedom. Now if there was any intervention from the East in the
affairs of Eastern Europe, that would put at risk all that has been
gained. Mr Gorbachev has used good words aimed at saying that there
must be no intervention from the West in Eastern Europe - well the
same goes, with re-doubled force, for intervention from the East."
---- END OF TRANSCRIPT ----
Transcribed by: David & Susan Stott,
Media Transcription Service (Defence Information),
12 Sheri Drive, NEWTON-LE-WILLOWS,
Warrington. WA12 8PT
12:06 AM 22/8/89
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