Gromyko to visit Poland before July party meeting

June 29, 1981

Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko will visit Warsaw early in July at the invitation of Poland's Communist Party and government, the Soviet news agency Tass reported. The wording of the announcement indicated Mr. Gromyko, a member of the Kremlin's ruling Politburo, would arrive before an emergency Polish Communist Party congress due on July 14. The trip will give him a chance to impress upon Poland's leaders the deep concern felt here over the reform movement in Poland and the possible outcome of the Party congress.

But his mission, likely to be presented as reciprocating a trip to Moscow last December by Polish Foreign Minister Jozef Czyrek, also seemed to imply that the Kremlin was counting on inter party diplomacy to resolve the Polish crisis.