On September 29, 2025, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth wing KNE staged a protest outside the Polish Embassy in Athens, condemning the “unacceptable and dangerous” anti-communist prosecution against the Communist Party of Poland (KPP).
According to 902 portal, the action was part of a broader international day of solidarity with the KPP, coinciding with delegations that attended the 51st KNE–Odigitis Festival.
A memorandum of protest was handed to Ewa Pańczak, the deputy chargé d’affaires at the embassy, by Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos, Member of the European Parliament for the KKE. Addressing protesters outside, Nikolaou-Alavanos declared: “We are here today to denounce the new anti-communist prosecution against the Communist Party of Poland. We will not allow bans on Communist parties.”
He explained that on October 1 Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is due to examine a case that could outlaw the KPP, based on recent revisions to the country’s Penal Code. These changes, introduced in October 2023, equate socialism and communism with fascism, criminalize communist ideology and symbols, and threaten activists with prison sentences of up to three years. Legal proceedings have already been launched against demonstrators, including participants in this year’s May Day march in Warsaw, for carrying red flags and communist emblems.
He explained that on October 1 Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is due to examine a case that could outlaw the KPP, based on recent revisions to the country’s Penal Code. These changes, introduced in October 2023, equate socialism and communism with fascism, criminalize communist ideology and symbols, and threaten activists with prison sentences of up to three years. Legal proceedings have already been launched against demonstrators, including participants in this year’s May Day march in Warsaw, for carrying red flags and communist emblems.
The KKE’s memorandum condemned these measures as a violation of basic democratic rights and freedoms. It stressed that such laws “attempt to criminalize the struggle for workers’ rights and social justice” while tolerating and even legitimizing far-right and fascist forces. Protesters outside the embassy carried banners and chanted slogans such as “Hands off the communists in Poland” and “Solidarity with the peoples’ struggle, not the persecution of communists.”
The KKE demanded the immediate repeal of the amended Penal Code and the abolition of all anti-communist laws and provisions in Poland. It reaffirmed its full solidarity with the Communist Party of Poland, warning that attempts to silence communists represent an attack on democratic freedoms across Europe.
The KKE demanded the immediate repeal of the amended Penal Code and the abolition of all anti-communist laws and provisions in Poland. It reaffirmed its full solidarity with the Communist Party of Poland, warning that attempts to silence communists represent an attack on democratic freedoms across Europe.
