Code Message No. 4802 from Deputy Minister Winiewicz to Michałowski (New York) and Milnikiel (London)

146

May 7, code message of deputy minister Winiewicz to the permanent representative

at the UN in New York and the ambassador in London regarding further diplomatic action

in relation to the Rapacki Plan

Warsaw, May 7, 1958

^cFlash – Deliver immediately^c

CODE MESSAGE [NO] ^c4802, May 7, 20.30 hrs^c

Michałowski – New York

Milnikiel – London

We instruct Sieradzki and our ambassadors in Oslo and Copenhagen to conduct ^cunofficial, probing^c conversations with the local MoFA, so that the eventual reply of specific countries to the Rapacki Plan made a better impression than the American reply,^1[1]5 particularly so that it would not reject the Plan a limine. In the conversations they should guide themselves, among others, by the following arguments:

1) We do not believe that the American reply, although it is – generally speaking – negative, cancels our reply. We shall give a written reply, because we uphold the Plan and intend to continue international discussion about it.

2) It is not our intention to propose the Rapacki Plan as a panaceum for all international problems. Rather, the Plan is an introduction to general disarmament and contributes to a better atmosphere for solving other problems. It seems that the American note does not take that (as well as some other aspects of the Rapacki Plan, e.g. [the issue of] conventional weapons control) into consideration.

3) A better form of reply than the American form would be, e.g. to submit to Poland questions and ^hdemands^hcrequest^c for explanation of those aspects of the Plan that they consider unclear or raise some doubts.

We ask you to act in this direction via such channels that you will deem appropriate.

^fWiniewicz^f

AMSZ, ZD 6/77, w. 59, t. 829

¹⁵ See doc. no 142.