The 1972 consular convention

Oh, sure. There is a consular convention in force between the
US and Poland that has been there since the Nixon presidency: see TIAS 7642, or
24 U.S.T. 1231, or 1972 U.S.T. LEXIS 253, or http://travel.state.gov/poland_treaties.html

It was signed in Warsaw on May 31,1972 and came into force on July 6, 1973.
It guarantees to any US citizen the right of departure from Poland on completion
of his or her visit, on the basis of his or her legally held American passport -
with none of this Polish chauvinist nonsense of the exclusively Polish
citizenship, allegedly inherited by infinite generations of Americans from their
Polish ancestors for all time.
However, while not game enough to formally renounce the convention, Poland
has decided it will not comply with it. To date, they have got away with it,
mainly because State Dept. has had more important matters to occupy their time.
The abrogation of the 1972 consular convention by Poland has been disguised
by a not very clever technicality. Poland unilaterally dropped the visa
requirement for US citizens in 1991, hoping to induce the US to do the same.
When this did not happen, because the record of compliance with US visa laws
by Poles visiting the United States is nothing short of shocking, Poland decided
(incidentally, that decision came during Mr Sikorski's tenure as Deputy Foreign
Minister responsible for Polish consular affairs), that they would no longer
respect clauses of the consular convention which are technically dependent on
American travellers being in possession of Polish visas. Thus while the US State
Department considers the 1972 Convention to be fully binding as a whole, Poland
choses to ignore the key clause:
"Persons entering the Polish People's Republic for temporary visits on the
basis of United States passports containing Polish entry visas will, in the
period for which temporary visitor status has been accorded (in conformity with
the visa's validity), be considered United States citizens by the appropriate
Polish authorities for the purpose of ensuring the consular protection provided
for in Article 29 of the Convention and the right of departure without further
documentation, regardless of whether they may possess the citizenship of the
Polish People's Republic."
While the Republic of Poland of today is the legal successor of the Polish
People's Republic, it no longer requires visas from US citizens. Accordingly,
the consular convention condition - on the basis of United States passports
containing Polish entry visas - is no longer met.
As a result, the Polish Government feels free to harass at will, at points of
departure from Poland, such American citizens as it cares to unilaterally
nominate as Polish subjects, often on the flimsiests of grounds, such as a
Polish-sounding surname.
There is a gulf of difference between Poland and the US in basic definitional
terms, borne out of the 45 years of Polish immersion in Communist doublespeak
from 1944 to 1989. To the US Government, a citizen is, and always has been, a
person equipped with certain unalienable rights respected by the state.
To the Polish government, a "citizen" is actually a subject, an item of state
property to be dealt with as the state sees fit, rights an optional extra. This
is why they got rid of a perfectly sensible arrangement for dealing with the
question of dual citizens of US and Poland travelling to Poland on American
passports - it offends their notion of ownership.
The more subtle notions of diplomacy, such the letter vs. the spirit of
international agreements, are really kind of wasted on those people, until such
time as the generational change in Poland sweeps away the sad legacy of
Communism.
Meanwhile, holiday in the Bahamas.
Edited 11/10/2003 9:06:21 PM ET by STARYWIARUS

Editorial & Opinion Talk #2763.10