Greece: Mass rally at the Ministry of National Defence against involvement in the imperialist war

A mass rally was held on Sunday 22/5/2022 at the Ministry of National Defence of Greece, the finishing line of the 40th Marathon Peace March, which had started at 8 am from the Marathon Tomb, conveying the message of opposition to the imperialist war, Greece’s involvement in it, and the country’s entanglement in the dangerous plans of NATO.

The march was organized by the Greek Committee for International Détente and Peace (EEDYE), which on the same day organized other mass anti-imperialist demonstrations in Thessaloniki as well as in cities in the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace. 

Thousands of protesters in Greece raised their voice against the Greek-American Military Agreement

By Nikos Mottas.

Thousands of people, workers, students, pensioners, men and women of every age, participated on Thursday afternoon in demonstrations in Athens and other major Greek cities against the Greece-USA Agreement which upgrades and extends the existing network of US-NATO military bases in the country. 

The rallies were organized by the the Struggle Committee against the Greece–USA Agreement on Military Bases, with the support of the Greek Committee for International Detente and Peace (EEDYE), the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), the Federation of Greek Women (OGE), numerous Workers' Unions and Associations, Students' Unions and other groups of the people's movement.  

TKP-KKE: Turkish, Greek communists strengthen joint struggle against imperialism-exploitation

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) and the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), two parties with a long history of fraternal relations, organize bilateral meetings and joint events in Turkey between 11 and 15 May.

More specifically, TKP will host a delegation of the KKE within the framework of comprehensive program of visits, meetings and political events throughout Turkey, including major cities Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya and Adana. 

KKE: The imperialist war in Ukraine and the stance of the Russian Communist Workers’ Party (RCWP)

 Article of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE

On the stance of the RCWP on the imperialist war in Ukraine

Following the article on the stance of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), we would also like to respond to some questions about the stance of the Russian Communist Workers’ Party (RCWP) regarding the war in Ukraine; questions which also arise from some unfounded remarks made by the RCWP about the Resolution of the CC of the KKE that some “well-intentioned” people, who are hostile to the principled positions of the KKE and support the geopolitical plans of the Russian bourgeoisie, took care to translate into Greek and disseminate in various media outlets.

KKE: Statement on the 77th anniversary of the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples

On 7/5/2022, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece  (KKE) issued a statement (here in Greek) on the 77th  anniversary of the Great Anti-fascist Victory of the Peoples, which notes, among other things, the following:

“The 9th of May inspires the peoples, it teaches them to have faith in their own power.

The USSR managed to achieve the feat of the anti-fascist victory thanks to the superiority of the socialist system, workers’ power, and the advantages of the socialization of the means of production and the central planning of the economy, which today are derided by the leaders of capitalist Russia (...) The workers’–people’s forces in Greece and all over the world will always commemorate the 20,000,000 Soviet soldiers and people that fell victims with admiration and respect.(...) 

European Communist Initiative: 9th May, a milestone of the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples

In a statement about the 77th anniversary of the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples, the 9th of May, the Secretariat of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties issued the following statement:

We proudly commemorate 9 May, a milestone of the Great Antifascist Victory of the Peoples. We pay tribute to the millions of people who sacrificed their lives, fought with guns in their hands, and struggled against the fascist imperialist Axis of Germany–Italy–Japan and their allies. 

Koutsoumbas: “The right side of history is the struggle against the imperialist war in every country”

“The anniversary of Greece's accession to NATO may be, without doubt, a black anniversary, but for the working class and the people, especially the younger ones, is also an opportunity: To refer to the blood-stained, full of crimes history of this imperialist organization which continues to be written even today”, stressed out the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas during a speech at the Party's headquarters in Athens. 

KKE: On the imperialist war in Ukraine and the stance of the CPRF

By the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE.

“A struggle for markets and for freedom to loot foreign countries, a striving to suppress the revolutionary movement of the proletariat and democracy in the individual countries, a desire to deceive, disunite, and slaughter the proletarians of all countries by setting the wage slaves of one nation against those of another so as to benefit the bourgeoisie; these are the only real content and significance of the war. ” - V.I. Lenin, The Tasks of Revolutionary Social-Democracy in the European War, Collected Works, Vol 26, pp 1

All the above, underscored by the leader of the October Revolution more than one century ago, are absolutely true as regards the war in Ukraine. Many articles to date have highlighted aspects of the fight over markets, raw materials, and commodity transport routes.

The struggle against the imperialist war in Ukraine and Greece's participation in it

By Giorgos Marinos,

The imperialist war in Ukraine, following the unacceptable invasion of Russia, continues. The conflict between the USA, NATO, EU with capitalist Russia carries the risk of generalization and Greece is “up to the neck” on the side of Euro-Atlanticism. The government, with the support of SYRIZA and KINAL, has transformed the country into a military base. The US bases, for which all governments bear responsibility, are used. Greek military unites and armaments are sent to the “eastern front”. 

D. Koutsoumbas: “We do not choose a camp between thieves, we choose the camp of the peoples”

On Friday 1 April 2022, thousands of people participated in the rally of the Party Organization of Attica of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) at Athens' Syntagma Square, where the General Secretary of the CC of the Party Dimitris Koutsoumbas delivered a speech. 

The demonstrators united their voices under the slogan “No to the imperialist war in Ukraine”. They demanded that our country's involvement should stop. They shouted that they will not accept that the people pay the price of the war, that they face high prices that erode the income of the working class and greater energy poverty.

Nikos Mottas — On the Imperialist War in Ukraine

 

KKE on Bucha killings: "Murdering civilians is the most horrific and barbaric aspect of the imperialist wars"

In a comment about the massacre of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, close to Kiev, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) stresses out:

"The murders of civilians is the most horrific and barbaric aspect of the imperialist wars, whoever commits them, wherever they take place, either now in Ukraine due to the Russian invasion or in the past, in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere under the responsibility of USA-NATO. 

Massive anti-war rally of the KKE in Athens

KKE rally in Syntagma Square, Friday 1 April 2022.

Thousands of protesters in Athens responded to the call of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and participated in a large anti-imperialist, anti-war rally held at Syntagma Square, in front of the Parliament. 

Waving red flags and shouting anti-imperialist slogans, the demonstrators raised their voice against the imperialist war in Ukraine and expressed their firm opposition to Greece's involvement in the dangerous US-NATO-EU plans. 

Joint anti-NATO demonstration by Serbian and Greek communists in Belgrade

Photos credit: nkpj.org.rs

A large anti-imperialist protest organized by the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ), the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) took place on Saturday 26 March in Belgrade.

The protest was held in front of the famous building of the Ministry of Defense (General Staff) which was heavily damaged by NATO bombs in 1999, on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of NATO's criminal intervention against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Friends from the Serbian-Cuban Friendship Association and the League of Communists of Serbia also attended the gathering.

Ukraine's decommunization and the rise of fascism

By Nikos Mottas.

The process of the so-called “decommunization” in Ukraine was introduced during the first years of the restoration of capitalism in the USSR and included the slandering and erasing of anything related to the Soviet period and the construction of socialism.

This term was also used by the President of today's capitalist Russia, Vladimir Putin, in his anti-communist statement prior to the invasion, saying characteristically that “we are ready to show you what genuine decommunization means for Ukraine”. It is not a coincidence that anti-communism is a common feature of both the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev as well as the leadership of capitalist Russia, at a time when the two sides are waging a bloody war against the people on behalf of their bourgeois classes.

Resolution of the CC of the KKE on the Imperialist War in Ukraine

Read below the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on the Imperialist War in Ukraine in three languages (ENGLISH, RUSSIAN, SPANISH).

 

RESOLUTION OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF THE KKE
ON THE IMPERIALIST WAR IN UKRAINE

1. The KKE, from the very first moment, denounced the Russian invasion of Ukraine and expressed its solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

Kemal Okuyan: Who will stop NATO?

The following article was published earlier this month, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, by Kemal Okuyan, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP):

 

WHO WILL STOP NATO?

“NATO is not an organization, a force, or an alliance system that can be defeated militarily.” We have been stating this since the Russian armies entered Ukraine. 

The world’s plunge into ever increasing darkness and the fact that the international working class movement has for a long time been in retreat undoubtedly leads people to despair and the tendency to fall for the first “remedy” they come across.

British communists say "No to Putin's war, no to NATO"!

Britain's Communists have reiterated their opposition to Russian president Putin's invasion of Ukraine and urged people to step up the campaign for a ceasefire and a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

'The working class and peoples of Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere will not be the winners of this war', Carol Stavris told the Communist Party's executive committee at the weekend. The CP women's organiser highlighted the huge and lasting impact of the Russian offensive on hundreds of thousands of women and children fleeing Ukraine.

D. Koutsoumbas: "The people of Ukraine have become a punching bag among ruthless imperialists"

On 14 March, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), delivered a speech at a political rally in Corinth, noting, among other things: “More than 10 years have passed and the Greek people are still paying for the successive capitalist crises with impoverishment, three memoranda, and hundreds of anti-popular and anti-labour laws. They also pay for the recovery by constantly making new sacrifices to shield the profitability of a few business groups.

Now they are being told that they must pay the price of Greece’s participation in imperialist war. To pay ‘the price of participation in the war for freedom’, as the Prime Minister, K. Mitsotakis, said.

The stance of the communists towards the imperialist war in Ukraine

By Nikos Mottas.

The inter-imperialist confrontation between the Euro-Atlantic powers (USA, NATO, EU) and Russia in Ukraine inevitably brings to the fore serious ideological-political disagreements and chronic contradictions that exist in the international communist movement.

The Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine emphatically highlights the misconception that exists in part of the communist movement concerning the issue of imperialism. A number of self-proclaimed “communist” forces are either unable, or deliberately avoid, to conceive imperialism through Leninist criteria. Instead, they disconnect economy from politics, overlook the fact that the competition between the monopolies is the basis for the sharpening of international conflicts and focus unilaterally on the aggressive foreign policy of specific states and alliances (e.g. USA, NATO, EU).