Soviet Troop Pullout From Poland Urged

KENNEBUNKPORT, Me. —  President Bush, asserting that there is “no danger at all of an invasion of Poland from the West,” suggested Monday that the Soviet Union begin withdrawing its troops from Poland.

Bush made the suggestion in a pre-Fourth of July interview with three Polish journalists. He also said that he hopes to see a continuation of internal reforms in Poland “that would result in . . . the Soviets feeling comfortable in taking their troops out of there.”

Last month, the Soviet Union started a limited reduction of its estimated 45,000 troops based in Poland.

The 25-minute interview was intended as a prelude to a trip that Bush is scheduled to make to Poland early next week on his way to the annual seven-nation economic summit in Paris. The visit will be his second in 21 months; the first was in late 1987, when he was still vice president.

Bush’s suggestion came in an almost offhand fashion and was not couched as a formal U.S. demand. Bush stressed several times during the interview that he is not seeking to “complicate matters between the Soviet Union and Poland” and did not want to inflame the domestic situation in Poland.

Nevertheless, the statement marked the first time that Bush has specifically called for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Poland, which White House officials said could be accomplished as part of the broader pullback of Soviet forces that the United States has proposed in its latest arms reduction plan.

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said later that Bush had no specific timetable in mind for such a pullout.

In his comments Monday, Bush also rejected a suggestion that all foreign troops be withdrawn from Europe, arguing that the “tremendous disparity” between Soviet and Western troop levels there makes it “pretty hard to visualize eliminating all troops.”

No Danger

Nevertheless, the President said: “I would like to see the start be (the) withdrawing of the (Soviet) troops from Poland, because I think there is no danger at all of an invasion . . . from the West. And I don’t think anybody in Poland thinks there’s a danger of invasion of Poland from the West.”

Bush also indicated that he would seek firm assurances during his visit that Poland would be able “not only to continue . . . but expand on” its economic reforms before the United States grants Warsaw any substantial new trade preferences or technical help.

“That isn’t easy for a lot of regimes around the world,” Bush conceded. He added:

“But I have to exhort and encourage as much economic reform as possible” and “as much political freedom as possible.”

His comments marked the first time that the President has indicated that the United States would require such added assurances before providing any sizable new economic benefits to the Poles.

On Bush’s own orders, top White House strategists have been preparing a package of possible economic aid measures for the President to announce during his 2 1/2-day visit. The President reportedly wants to provide a symbolic gesture of U.S. support for Poland’s economic reforms.

Among the options being considered are providing new trade preferences, such as duty-free entry for Polish exports into the United States, and American support for loans to Poland by international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

But Bush cautioned that obtaining such loans would not be easy because Poland would have to meet the same requirements as other would-be borrowers and pledge to carry out further reforms designed to put its economic house in order.

The tone of the President’s remarks clearly was intended to follow his previously announced plan to provide support and encouragement for the reforms now under way in Poland without offering enormous amounts of new aid.