The 45th KNE-Odigitis festival to be held on 19-21 September in Athens

KNE-Odigitis festival in Athens (Archive Photo).

With the struggles, the dreams, our power....we will build a world that is free, open, full of hope". These words by Nazim Hikmet consist the major slogan of the 45th KNE-Odigitis festival which is organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), the youth wing of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).

Events by KNE have been scheduled in numerous cities and towns across Greece during August and September. In the country's second largest city, Thessaloniki, the festivities will take place on 12-14th of September including a large political event addressed by the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas. 

Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) votes in favor of Trump's war budget

The much-celebrated star of U.S. social democracy, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez  (AOC) recently endorsed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 which is actually a deal between the Trump administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

By a bipartisan vote of 284-149, the House approved the bill, sending it to the Senate, which is expected to debate it next week. Among other issues, the bill adds billions of dollars to military spending thus including about $738 billion for fiscal 2020 which is a 3 percent increase from current year levels. 

¡No, señores imperialistas...!: President Miguel Díaz-Canel blasts U.S. imperialist aggression

Cuba will not betray its friends, warned President Miguel Diaz-Canel Friday in a speech pronounced on National Rebellion Day in the eastern Granma province.

He affirmed it in the commemoration of the 66th anniversary of the attacks on Moncada barracks, in Santiago de Cuba, and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, in Bayamo, a feat led by Fidel Castro and which started the Cuban Revolution.

KKE intervention at the European Parliament: "Hands Οff Polish and Ukrainian Communists"

Kostas Papadakis, MEP of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), made an intervention on the anti-communist prosecutions in Poland and Ukraine in a debate with Commissioner Vĕra Jourová in the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE), denouncing the Commissioner's unacceptable answers to the relevant questions of the Group of the KKE in the European Parliamentand EU's hypocritical interest in “human rights”.

In his speech, the MEP of the KKE stressed the following:

Spain: PCTE expresses solidarity with Socialist Cuba on July 26th anniversary

The 8th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE), held in Madrid on July 13-14, 2019, and due to the proximity of July 26, when the 66th Anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Barracks, conveys to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) the internationalist solidarity from our Party and the greatest wishes of success in the workers' and the whole Cuban people's struggles for socialism and national sovereignty.

Cuban President Diaz-Canel slams far-right US Senator Rubio: "We won't yield to threats"

"We will eternally defend our sovereignty and independence,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said, giving a powerful response to the despicable threats unleashed by far-right U.S. Florida Senator Marco Rubio.  

Cuba will not yield to “pressure or threats” from the United States, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Saturday in response to an aggressive tweet taunt Friday by the Republican senator. 

Koutsoumbas to ND government: "Unfortunately for you, the KKE stands against your policies"

KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas (right) and 
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Speaking at Greece's Parliament during the new government's policy statements and discussion over confidence vote, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas unleashed a political attack against both the newly-elected conservative government of New Democracy (ND), as well as against the social democratic major opposition of SYRIZA.

Regarding New Democracy's government policy statements, Koutsoumbas said that these were already known from the pre-electoral period, adding that even the EU Commission had prepared her recommendations for Greece even before the formation of the government on July 8th. 

45 years since the Turkish invasion in Cyprus - Statement by the Communist Party of Greece

The 20th of July marks the 45th anniversary since the invasion of the Turkish armed forces in Cyprus which led to the island's partition and the occupation of the 37% of Cyprus by Turkey. 

On this occasion, the Press Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) points out in a statement published on 902 portal:

Kemal Okuyan: Who will be the target of S-400 missiles purchased by AKP government?

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) Kemal Okuyan reflects on the issue of Turkey's purchase of S-400 missiles from Russia and the stance of communists on this political crisis:

Can a government develop domestic policy in a completely different direction from its foreign policy? Can a political power that is hostile to its own people defend the interests of the oppressed and the poor in the international arena and take a position against inequalities in the world?

Greece: Anti-communist MP elected Parliament Speaker with SYRIZA, MERA25 backing

ND MP and Parliament Speaker Kostas Tasoulas.

With a record 283 votes New Democracy's (ND) veteran MP and former Culture and Sports Minister, Konstantinos Tasoulas, was elected earlier today as the new Speaker of the Greek Parliament. 

A long-time MP for the district of Ioannina, Tasoulas was approved by New Democracy, main opposition SYRIZA, centre-left Movement for Change (KINAL/PASOK), the far-right Greek Solution and Varoufakis' MERA25. 

KKE: The new EU Commission will continue the anti-people strategy in favor of the monopolies

KKE MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos (left) and the new EU
Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen.

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has been narrowly elected president of the EU Commission following a secret ballot among MEPs. 

The former defence minister of Merkel's government will replace Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on 1 November. She secured the backing of more than half of the members of the European parliament on Tuesday evening.

"It is a big responsibility and my work starts now," von der Leyen said in her first speech immediately after the vote and added. "Let us work together constructively."

"US, EU, NATO are responsible for the tension in Aegean and Cyprus"— KKE MEP Papadakis

During his intervention at the plenary of the European Parliament in Strasburg, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) MEP Kostas Papadakis denounced the aggression of the Turkish bourgeois class in Cyprus and the Aegean, pointing out that this stance is fueled by the policy of the United States, the European Union and NATO. 

According to 902 portal Kostas Papadakis said: 

Greek anti-imperialists slam ND government's recognition of Venezuelan coup leader Guaido

"God Bless America": Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis 
and US-puppet coup plotter Juan Guaido.

Fully aligned with the US and EU imperialist policy, Greece's newly-elected conservative government of New Democracy (ND) has officially recognized US-backed coup plotter Juan Guaido as Venezuela's "interim President". 

This decision of Kyriakos Mitsotakis' government has already been denounced by progressive and anti-imperialist forces as an act that makes Greece an accomplice in the dangerous imperialist US-EU plans in the region. 

"This act supports the dirty intervention of the USA, the EU and their allies in Venezuela and it is directed against the legally elected President of the country and against the Venezuelan people as a whole" points out, among other things, the statement of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). [Read the statement here]

STATEMENT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREECE (KKE) ON THE RESULTS OF THE JULY 7 PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

In a statement the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) reflects on the results of the July 7th parliamentary elections. The full statement is the following:

1. The CC greets the thousands of members of the Party and KNE, Party supporters, cooperators, and voters, who all contributed to the electoral battle waged by the KKE. We especially greet those who took this step for the first time, the young men and women who gave their first vote to our Party.

Solidarity with H&M workers in New Zealand who demand increase in salaries

H&M multinational's store in Auckland.

New Zealand's FIRST Union members who work at one of Auckland's international retail giants H&M have been suspended this morning for wearing a sticker of protest at work.

According to the report of tvnz.co.nz, The stickers come accompanied with highlight make up and one example of a sticker reads 'my wages need a glow up'. The somewhat silent protest comes shortly after another act of unity where H&M workers wore black to express their feelings towards their pay.

Thousands of young communists participated in the 28th anti-imperialist camp of KNE

KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas in
the political event in Karpenisi.

Thousands young men and women from every corner of Greece gathered between 12 and 14 of July, in Karpenisi, in Evrytania, in order to participate in the 28th anti-imperialist camp organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE). 

The base for the camp was Kefalovriso, 3 km from the city of Karpenisi, a place which took its fame from the battle of August 1823 between the Greek revolutionaries and the Ottomans. 

"Socialism Conference 2019" or Imperialism's Τrojan Ηorse?

From July 4 to 7, a large number of left-wing activists from across the United States gathered in Chicago in order to participate in the so-called "2019 Socialism Conference". 

The event was sponsored by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Jacobin magazine and the trotskyite publisher Haymarket Books. 

KKE denounces the recognition of US-puppet Juan Guaido by the Greek government

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis (left) and US-backed
"puppet-president" of Venezuela Juan Guaido.

Earlier today, the Greek Foreign Ministry said the government recognized Juan Guaido as president of Venezuela "in order for him to call for free, fair and democratic presidential elections."

"The Government of the Hellenic Republic, in accordance with the common EU position in the statement of the EU High Representative/Vice President, Mrs Mogherini, on behalf of the EU28, decided to recognize the President of the democratically elected National Assembly, Juan Guaido as President a.i. of Venezuela, in order for him to call for free, fair and democratic presidential elections," a ministry statement said. 

KNE: "The efforts of ND government to abolish university asylum shall not pass"

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Central Council of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) slams the plans of New Democracy's (ND) conservative government to abolish university asylum. 

"The supposed government's concern about criminality in higher institutions is fake", writes the KNE statement and adds: "It is not the university asylum that prevents the tackling of crime and drug trafficking in the center of Athens, in Menidi and other areas where there is no university institution. The existing framework can address these issues in the universities. Like drug trafficking which is not treated through supervised use areas. On the contrary, it strengthens even more".

Mitsotakis' government aims to continue the anti-people work of SYRIZA

Prime Minister-elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

"We know what we want, we know how to make it happen and we will achieve it," Greek Prime Minister-elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis said during his speech at the first cabinet meeting of his government. 

"I have not hidden my ambition for the government to function as a well-oiled machine" Mitsotakis pointed out, showing his intention to accelerate a number of anti-people reforms demanded by the capital. 

Commenting on the cabinet's first meeting, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) points out:

Greece elections: The 15 parliament deputies (MPs) of the KKE

In Greece's parliamentary elections which took place on Sunday, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) received 5.3% and 15 seats in the Parliament - the same number of MPs it had after the 2015 elections. 

Below, you can see the list of the newly-elected parliament deputies of KKE:

Greece elections: Statement of the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas

Statement of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas shortly after the announcement of the result of the July 7th parliamentary elections:

"We thank all those who voted for the KKE and especially those who took the step for the first time. In addition we thank those who cooperated with the KKE in this election battle, participated in its lists, even if in the past they belonged to other political currents, continuing the similar mobilization that occurred also during the European elections. We salute the thousands of members, cadres, friends of the Party and KNE who gave their best to strengthen the KKE.

Greece elections: 300 thousand votes and 15 parliament seats for the Communist Party (KKE)

Early general elections were held in Greece on 7 July 2019, in which the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) received 300,000 votes and 5.3%,  with the  re-election of 15 MPs to the Greek Parliament. 

This result was achieved in conditions of the change of the correlation of forces amongst the bourgeois parties, a generalized trend towards increasing conservatism, blackmail, disillusionment that had been sowed by the anti-people political line of the "left" SYRIZA government. 
 
The conservative party of New Democracy (ND) came first with 39.8% and popular discontent was expressed towards the SYRIZA government, which received 31.5%. 
 
KINAL, the continuation of old social-democracy in Greece, entered the new parliament with 8.1%, the nationalist-racist party "Greek Solution" with 3.7% and the other social-democratic party MERA25 with 3.4% also entered parliament. In contrast, 16 parties did not pass the election threshold of 3%, including the criminal fascist organization of Golden Dawn whose vote shrunk significantly to 2.9%.

SYRIZA paved the way to New Democracy — Dimitris Koutsoumbas

KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas.

"The right-wing and conservative policy of SYRIZA's government paved the way to New Democracy and PASOK, it purified and resurrected them", said Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), in his interview to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, three days before the July 7th parliamentary elections.

Koutsoumbas points out "the leadership of SYRIZA has been recorded as a "sellout" to the unjust system, to Trump and the EU Commission" and adds that many people who did not submit themselves to the system draw conclusions and support the KKE.