grammar

[Hanka]

Hi,

could you please check the highlighted text:

I further applied to the European Commission in Brussels for help. The European Commission investigated the whole matter and recommended that I contact/contacted the Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil Aviation, in the first place. After long waiting, I obtained a message stating that I should address directly to your office and ask you to determine the real culprit. If you are able to definitely determine to whom the whole problem is attributable, I will enforce the compensation by legal action. If, however, the encountered difficulties are/were attributable to your company, I would ask for payment of the compensation.

Thank you very much.

Hanka

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by Hanka

Hi,

could you please check the highlighted text:

I further applied to the European Commission in Brussels for help. The European Commission investigated the whole matter and recommended that I contact/contacted the Ministry of Transport, Department of Civil Aviation, in the first place. After long waiting, I obtained a message stating that I should address directly to your office and ask you to determine the real culprit. If you are able to definitely determine to whom the whole problem is attributable, I will enforce the compensation by legal action. If, however, the encountered difficulties are/were attributable to your company, I would ask for payment of the compensation.

Thank you very much.

In the first, use "contact"; it is the present subjunctive (although it looks like simple present tense).

In the second, you could use either, but I would use the present "are". You are presently attributing the past difficulties to the company.