"The KKE is at the forefront of the anti-war, anti-imperialist movement and the workers–people’s movement"

The following text is the introductory speech delivered by the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas at the Extraordinary Teleconference of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP), under the subject: 

 

"The international economic, political, and military developments. The experience from the struggle of the Communist and Workers' Parties and the peoples. Solidarity with Cuba, the Palestinian people, and all the peoples struggling against sanctions, machinations, and imperialist aggression". 

KKE and French communists honored the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune

Photo: 902.gr

“We are here in Paris to culminate the rich program of tributes, events, publications and other activities through which our Party honors the heroic Paris Commune, 150 years since the first “storming of dream” by the working class. We are here, we walked in the footsteps of the Commune and drawing strength and knowledge from its teachings, we continue the beautiful but difficult struggle. So that dreams will be vindicated”, said Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, during a speech in Paris, France.

KKE leader Koutsoumbas pays tribute to the Paris Commune

Photo: 902.gr

On his 2nd day of visit in Paris, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas participated in a guided walk “on the footsteps of the Commune”. The walk began from Louise Michel square and continued in Montmartre.

Later on, the General Secretary and a delegation of the KKE visited the “Communards' Wall” at Père Lachaise cemetery where Koutsoumbas laid a wreath in honor of the 147 fallen combatants of the 1871 Paris Commune. Flowers were also deposed to the graves of the General Secretary of the French Communist Party from 1930 to 1964 Maurice Thorez, communist poet Paul Éluard and communard chansonnier Jean-Baptiste Clement. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas — The struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism

On Sunday 28 November, the European Communist Initiative held a teleconference titled "The communists at the forefront of the workers’–people’s struggle against “green” and “digital” capitalist barbarism, for the contemporary popular needs, for the real way out, socialism". 

Below you can read the introductory speech delivered by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas:

Visite du Secrétaire général du KKE Koutsoumbas à Paris

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), will visit Paris on December 2-4, 2021. 

According to "Rizospastis" Koutsoumbas will pay a visit to Louvre museum on Thursday 2 December, while on Friday he will participate in a guided walk "on the footsteps of the Commune". On the same day he will lay a wreath at the Communards' Wall at the Père Lachaise cemetery where, on May 28, 1871, one-hundred and forty-seven fédérés, combatants of the Paris Commune, were shot and thrown in an open trench at the foot of the wall.

Vietnam's Vice President visits KKE headquarters in Athens

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), met on Monday with the Vice President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and member of the CC of the Communist Party of Vietnam Vo Thi Anh Xuan. The meeting took place at the headquarters of the KKE in Perissos, Athens.

Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan is on a visit to Greece, as the head of a multi-member delegation consisting by the president of the Women's Union, the deputy ministers of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Social Affairs, Planning and Investments, Industry and Trade, as well as other governmental officials. From the side of the KKE the meeting was also attended by Giorgos Marinos, Politburo member, MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos and Christina Skaloumpaka, president of the Greek Women's Federation. The Ambassador of Vietnam in Greece Le Hong Truong also participated in the meeting. 

Museum in honor of communist guerrillas unveiled in Greece

“The KKE is the power of the people today, because it doesn't enter the fold of the false 'national arrangements', it does not obey the hostile for the people bourgeois plans”, pointed out Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), during his speech in the northern Greek town of Nestorio on Sunday morning.

The speech was given on the occasion of the inauguration of a Museum-Memorial for  the communist guerrilla fighters of EAM-ELAS and the Democratic Army (DSE), who fought against the Axis occupation and during the Greek Civil War respectively. The Museum was a donation by Harisis Tsoutounis who provided a space “in memory of his militant parents”, as well as to “honor the struggle of EAM-ELAS and DSE, to which the people of the area contributed significantly”.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas at KNE-Odigitis festival: "The KKE is here, for the society of true freedom, for socialism!"

The third and last day of the 47th KNE-Odigitis festival in Athens, on Saturday 25th September, was concluded with a massive political event with speakers being Nikos Abatielos, Secretary of the Central Council of KNE and Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). 

 

This year's festival was marked by a record attendance, with thousands of people, workers, young men and women, from every part of the Greek capital participating in the major events.

Greece: Thousands joined PAME rally, sent powerful message to Mitsotakis' government

Thousands of workers, self-employed people, farmers, pensioners, young men and women participated on Saturday evening in a massive rally organized by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) and Trade Unions on the occasion of the inauguration of the 85th Thessaloniki International Fair by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Under the slogan “Only the people can save the people. The justified indignation must become a force of organization and struggle”, numerous protesters from Thessaloniki and the broader region of Central Macedonia sent a militant message to the ND government and the employers. 

Mikis Theodorakis: I want to leave this world as a communist

Mikis Theodorakis, anticipating the end of his life, had contacted by telephone the Secretary General of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, giving him the stigma of his last wishes.

In his personal letter on October 5, 2020, to Dimitris Koutsoumbas, he wrote: "Now at the end of my life, at the time of reckoning, the details fade from my mind and remain the big picture. So I see that my most critical, strong and mature years were spent under the banner of the KKE. That is why I want to leave this world as a communist."

Greece fires: Remarks by the KKE General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas

Extensive fires have raged in many parts of Greece, including in the outskirts of Athens, the island of Evia (Euboea) and Peloponnese with thousands of people fleeing as protracted heat wave turned forests into tinderboxes and flames threatened populated areas, electricity installations and historic sites. 

In a statement, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas said:

“The members and the friends of the KKE, its deputies and those elected to regional and municipal councils are in battle positions against the wildfires, by the side of the people who are being tested once again.

Large political rally by Greek and Turkish communists held in Lesvos: Socialism is the future!

Under the slogan “In Greece and Turkey, the enemy is the same: NATO – governments – capitalism! Socialism is the future!”, hundreds of communists from the two countries participated in a large rally held on Saturday 10 July in Mytilene, Lesbos, 

 

The rally was organized within the framework of the 30th Anti-imperialist camp of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE). 

"The real enemy isn't the neighboring countries, but capitalism, its monopolies and their imperialist alliances", underlined Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), during his greeting speech at Sappho Square in Mytilene. 

Greek and Turkish young communists to meet in Lesvos

Dimitris Koutsoumbas (KKE) and Kemal Okuyan (TKP)

Greek and Turkish young communists, members and friends of the KKE and the TKP, are going to meet on July 9-11 in the island of Lesvos (Lesbos), at the 30th Anti-imperialist Camp of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE).

KNE organizes this year's Anti-imperialist camp in Mytilene, Lesvos, under the slogan: “In Greece and Turkey, the enemy is the same: NATO – governments – capitalism! Socialism is the future!”.

The two-day events will conclude with a large political rally on Saturday 10 July, at 8 pm, at Sappho's Square in Mytilene. A speech will be delivered by Nikos Abatielos, Secretary of the Central Council of KNE. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas was re-elected General Secretary of the KKE

The works of the 21st Congress of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) were completed today, with the election of the new Central Committee and the Central Audit Committee.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the Party since 2013, was re-elected in his position. 

The 21st Congress assessed the work of the Central Committee and the Party as a whole from the 20th towards the 21st Congress, examined the basic assessments on the international and domestic economic and political developments of that period, the condition of the labour–people’s movement and the Party’s tasks up until the 22nd Congress. 

Greek Parliament approves monstrous anti-labour bill — "The people will have the last word" says KKE leader

Thousands of people demonstrated on Wednesday June 16th in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras and other big cities denouncing the monstrous omnibus labor law that abolishes the 8-hour working day and attacks trade union rights.

Large strike demonstrations took place in Syntagma Square, downtown Athens, in the morning of Wednesday, as well as in the afternoon, during the voting of the omnibus bill in the Parliament. 

Nationwide strike in Greece: Massive protests against the monstrous labour draft law

With massive demonstrations in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities across Greece, thousands of people sent today a militant message to the government, demanding the immediate repealing of the monstrous draft bill which, among other things, provides the abolition of the 8-hour working day. 

The Unions have declared Thursday 10 June a 24-hour nationwide strike, as a protest against the governmental draft bill which aims to take the labour conditions back to the Middle Ages.  

Protests in Greece: Hands Off the 8-Hour Working Day!

With mass rallies in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major Greek cities on Thursday, thousands of working class people expressed their strong opposition to the government's anti-labour draft law.

Under the slogan “the monstrous draft law must be abolished – hands off the 8-hour working day”, a large demonstration took place in downtown Athens, being the prelude of the nationwide strike that will be held on June 10th. 

Large KKE rallies in Greece sent militant message of struggle

A powerful and militant message against the anti-labour policies of the government was sent by thousands of people who participated in the political rallies organized by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities on Thusrday afternoon.

In Athens' Syntagma Square, thousands of workers, men and women, self-employed and unemployed people, young students and pensioners, joined their voices against the monstrous anti-labour draft law prepared by the conservative ND government. Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE, delivered a speech, sending the message: “We refuse to become slaves in the 21st century! The monstrous anti-labour law must not be submitted!”. 

KKE condemns criminal Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

In a statement issued today the Communist Party of Greece calls Mitsotakis' ND government to stop the military cooperation with Israel and to proceed to the immediate recognition of the Palestinian state. 

In face of the recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza strip and the escalation of aggression against Palestinians, the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas made the following statement (here in Greek):

Workers’ May Day 2021 in Greece: Militant rallies in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities

With large, militant rallies in Athens, Thessaloniki, Patras, Piraeus and other cities, the working class of Greece honored today, May 6th, the International Worker's Day. 

The class unions organized multi-faceted strike events throughout the country in spite of the ND government decision to move May Day on Tuesday. Thousands of people, workers, young men and women gathered today in Syntagma Square, Athens, in a demonstration organized by dozens of unions that participate in the ranks of the All-Workers’ Militant Front (PAME), thus sending a powerful message against the anti-labour policies of the government.