Poland: A Step Toward Conciliation

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The appeal could have been penned by the Warsaw government. It stated that the "most urgent task facing Poles today" is to improve the economy. Then it called upon President Reagan to lift the economic sanctions against Poland that have been in place since 1981, when the U.S. slapped on the measures to protest suppression of the Solidarity trade-union movement. What made last week's appeal unusual was its ten signatories. The list of prominent Poles included three Solidarity advisers and Lech Walesa, a founder and former leader of the now outlawed movement.

By signing on, Walesa seemed to distance himself from radical remnants of Solidarity and line up with moderate opponents of the Warsaw regime. The appeal was widely interpreted as a conciliatory gesture toward the government, which last month declared an amnesty and released all political prisoners.