European Parliament Group of KKE: Denouncement of the anticommunist events of EU and Slovak Presidency

Source: 902.gr

The European Parliament Group of KKE denounces the anticommunist events organised by the EU and the EU Slovak Presidency. The events are taking place in the framework of the so-called "European Day of Remembrance for victims of the totalitarian regimes" which the EU has set to be observed on August 23rd. Participants in these events are representatives of the Ministries of Justices of the EU member-states, various "institutes" and NGOs which are financed by EU funds having as an ordered mission the slandering of Socialism and the rewriting of History.

A clear aim of this anticommunist gathering is the manipulation of the conciousness of the working people, first and foremost of the youth, using as weapons the counterfeiting of History, the slander against the unprecedented gains of the working people in Socialism. Through the unhistorical equalization of fascism and communism, they finally seek to acquit the fascist monster and the "womb" which gives birth and reproduces it; the capitalist system. 

The EU justifies the shameful anti-communist hysteria in Poland

The EU does not condemn the anticommunist persecution in Poland, but even seeks to justify it.

Source: inter.kke.gr.

The answer of the EU commission is unacceptable in relation to the question of the KKE’s delegation in the European Parliament regarding the unacceptable decisions of the Polish courts against members and cadres of the CP of Poland, with sentences of up to 9 months in prison, because it is considered an “offense” and crime to disseminate their ideas in the “Brzask” newspaper and the website www.kompol.org. Not only did it not condemn the anticommunist persecution, but it even attempted to legally justify it by invoking the non-application of the reactionary EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 

While the Commission and other EU bodies are very noisy in other instances that are convenient for their interests, in the face of the anticommunist hysteria it pretends to “wash its hands of it”. While it presents itself as being … sensitive and an unsolicited “defender of human rights”, intervening in the internal affairs of states all over the world, using all forms of imperialist interventions and pressure, it finds nothing to say about anticommunist persecution and bans.

Intervention of KKE: Anti-communism and the glorification of Nazism

Source: inter.kke.gr.

On the 29^th of June, the CP of Ukraine organized a meeting on the margins of the Summit of the Human Rights’ Council of the UN against anti-communism, the persecution at the expense of the CPU and the attempts to rehabilitate Nazism and its supporters in Ukraine. The KKE was invited to this meeting and its representative, Vangelis Katsiavas, cadre of the KKE’s delegation in the European Parliament, made an intervention as did the President of the CP Ukraine, Pyotr Simonenko and a representative of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

The speech of the KKE’s representative is as follows:

“INTERVENTION AT THE EVENT ON THE "GLORIFICATION OF NAZISM"

We would like to thank you greatly for the invitation to this exceptionally interesting discussion.

KKE: "The Warsaw Summit proved the criminal role of NATO"

On the occasion of the NATO Summit in Warsaw, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) released the following statement:

"Pro-Peace declarations with dangerous heated-war decisions".

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

The Summit of NATO in Warsaw proved, once again, the criminal role of this imperialist organisation, which decided:

- the further concentration and redeployment of wartime military forces to countries which border with Russia,

- the completion of the installation and operation of the so-called "Missile Shield" with bases in Romania, Poland, with  the naval support and general infrastructure connected to the use of nuclear weapons in a destructive showdown. Its not accidental that the Declaration of the Summit's conclusions states the readiness of NATO to use nuclear weapons,

An Unholy Alliance: The ties of Social Democracy and the 'New Left' with NATO and Fascists in Ukraine

The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and its alliance with Ukrainian leftists supporting a pro-NATO course against Russia. 

Source: NewColdWar.org / Original Source: Junge Welt & [2].

An unholy alliance of leftists supporting a pro-NATO course against Russia, By Susann Witt-Stahl and Denis Koval, published in German in Junge Welt, June 25, 2016.

The Die Linke (Left Party)-affiliated Rosa Luxemburg Foundation wants to play it safe. It relies not on historical pro-Soviet or Marxist left traditions but instead promotes a “new left”. The foundation is named after a world-renowned icon of anti-capitalist movements whose identity is bound with communist and anti-imperialist ideas. But the members of the Foundation’s leadership recommend to the left a convergence with the ‘liberal imperialism’ of the global hegemon, the USA.

Understandably, this requires some political flexibility. Progressive forces should not plant themselves on one side or the other of competing imperialist powers, says the Facebook page Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Ukraine. It demands that the “independent left” distance itself from the NATO-EU bloc, on the one hand, and from Russia on the other hand.

One year since the Greek bailout referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated

One year since the Greek Bailout Referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated.

By Nikos Mottas.

5/7/2016.

It's been a year since the bailout referendum was held in Greece. The whole story surrounding the referendum, as well as what followed the referendum result, consists a major episode in a series of deceptions created by the Tsipras' coalition government. The referendum's question was whether the Greek people agreed or not with the bailout conditions proposed by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank [1]. The outcome was a triumph of the “No” vote with 61.31%, while a 38.69% of the voters choosed the “Yes” choice.

However, the referendum itself was proved a political fraud. The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government- and Prime Minister Tsipras personally- openly advocated in favor of the “No” vote. Thousands of “No” supporters gathered in mass demonstrations, while the country lived a short but intense polarised period, trapped between the “No vs Yes” dilemma. A fake and illusive dilemma, which had nothing to do with the real interests of the working masses who, once again, found themselves entrapped in bourgeois political antagonism.

'Rizospastis': Brexit and the perspective of the EU

Brexit and the perspective of the EU.

Source: Rizospastis / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

The result of the british referendum for exit from the EU has pulled to the surface contradictions between various imperialist centers regarding the future and perspective of the EU. The interventions of forces during the last days, both inside and out of the EU, confirm that. The President of the USA Barack Obama spoke about the need to avoid hysteria, because NATO exists and the Transatlantic Alliance hasn't been dissolved. On the same time, his criticism towards the process of the so-called political and economic deepening of the EU is of special importance. In order to explain what happened, he points out: "Regarding the issue of full European intergration, the pause button has been pressed", adding also that "the way the British voted is explained by the fact that, probably, the EU was moving faster than it should have". He expressed with clarity the dissagreement of the American monopolies regarding the way the German side promotes the deepening of the EU. Disagreements which of course meet other, respective dissents which are expressed also within the EU on the account of the bourgeois classes of France, Italy etc. Those who, the SYRIZA-ANEL government presents as "allies" of the Greek people, the same time when they crush the working-peoples' rights in their countries.

Golden Dawn's neo-Nazis: Puppets of EU's Monopoly Capitalism

After the 'Brexit' victory in Britain, the Nazi-criminal party of 'Golden Dawn' issued a statement saluting "the brave decision of the British people to deny the ‘crows’ of Brussels and the financial oligarchy of Germany". However, once again, the Golden Dawn's Nazis contradict themselves. The contradiction is that the actual, publicly declared, position of the Nazi party is in favor of the EU; more specifically of Greece's membership in the Union.

Just a year ago, in an interview on the site bankingnews.gr, the leader of 'Golden Dawn' N.Michaloliakos had referred to a possible exit of Greece from the EU and the Eurozone as a "criminal mistake against the nation", adding that "Greece has no choice at the moment; for Greece there is only the Euro and under harsh conditions" (22/6/2015). Golden Dawn's 'Fuhrer' had expressed the same position four years ago, just before the 2012 national elections, speaking on ERT (Greece's Public Television). 

As a typical fascist party- which is actually the watchdog of the big Capital in Greece- Golden Dawn constantly lies to the people. In an interview given to a far-right blog on May 2014, the retired Army officer and current Golden Dawn MEP Giorgos Epitidios said: "I am in favor of the EU. Our country has the need to participate in international unions and organisations like the EU and NATO". What the Nazi Party's MEP said reflects the truth about Golden Dawn: It is a pro-imperialist, pro-capitalist party, despite it's delusive rhetoric.

For those who have not a clear idea what 'Golden Dawn' is, let us remind that:

Communist Party of Greece (KKE): Statement on the result of the EU referendum in Britain

STATEMENT OF THE PRESS OFFICE OF THE CC OF THE KKE ON THE RESULT OF THE REFERENDUM IN BRIΤΑIN IN RELATION TO BRITAIN'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE EU.

The result of Britain's referendum demonstrates the increasing discontent of the working class and popular forces towards the EU and its anti-people policies. However these forces must disentangle themselves from the choices of sections and political forces of the bourgeoisie and acquire radical and anti-capitalist characteristics. The result records the dissipation of the expectations, which had been fostered by all the bourgeois parties-in Greece as well-together with the EU's mechanisms that the peoples could allegedly be prosperous inside the framework of the EU.

The fact that the issue of the departure of a country from the EU was posed so intensely- and indeed a country the size of Britain-is due on the one hand to the internal contradictions in the EU and the unevenness of its economies and on the other to the confrontation taking place amongst the imperialist centres, which sharpened in the conditions of the economic recession. These factors reinforce the so-called euroscepticism, break way trends, but also trends that seek a change in the form of political management of the EU and Eurozone.

#Brexit triumphed, but Capitalism is still here

COMMENTARY:

With 52% over 48%, the voters in Britain decided in favor of a Brexit in yesterday's EU referendum. The Communists of Britain who stood against the EU and the mainstream media propaganda deserve our congratulations for their stance and struggle. A significant proportion of Britain's working class- the class which has been largely affected by the antiworker, antipeople EU policies- voted in favor of 'Leave'. However, the triumph of Brexit does not change the capitalist framework of the country: the power remains in the hands of the bourgeoisie, the monopolies continue being the dominant force of British economy, the working class remains under capitalist exploitation. 

Britain's working class must have no illusions whatsoever: Unemployment, zero-hour contracts, layoffs, cuts in wages and social services will continue. The country, as a powerful imperialist member-state of NATO, will continue paying huge amounts in defense budget and participating in criminal, imperialist interventions.

V.I.Lenin: "A United States of Europe, under capitalism, is either impossible or reactionary"

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin- On the Slogan for a United States of Europe.

Sotsial-Demokrat No. 44, August 23, 1915. Published according to the text in Sotsial-Demokrat. Source: Lenin Collected Works, Progress Publishers, [197[4]], Moscow, Volume 21, pages 339-343.

In No. 40 of Sotsial-Demokrat we reported that a conference of our-Party’s groups abroad had decided to defer the question of the “United States of Europe” slogan pending a discussion, in the press, on the economic aspect of the matter.

At our conference the debate on this question assumed a purely political character. Perhaps this was partly caused by the Central Committee’s Manifesto having formulated this slogan as a forthright political one (“the immediatepolitical slogan...”, as it says there); not only did it advance the slogan of a republican United States of Europe, but expressly emphasised that this slogan is meaningless and false “without the revolutionary overthrow of the German, Austrian and Russian monarchies”.

Communist Party of Greece (KKE): Statement for the World Refugee Day

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

On the occasion of the World Refugee Day, the Press Office of the CC of KKE issued the following statement:

"The UN data for 2015- with the unprecedented number of 65.3 million refugees and domestically displaced people, 50% of which are children and 5.4 million people who became refugees for first time in 2015- is the mirror of a system which the only that has to offer is crises, poverty, wars, uprooting and refugees. The (the data) also show that if people do not put their own stamp, targeting the actual responsible, the monopolies and the imperialist war, the millions of the persecuted and uprooted people will be increasing every year.

What is the actual role of the NGOs in Greece's Refugee Crisis?

What is the role of the NGOs?

Source: Rizospastis / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

In Rizospastis' travelogue in refugee camps around the country, which started on May 29, there are shocking information about the entrapment, the miserable living conditions, the wounds that the war has left to thousands of people. This journalistic travelogue will continue in the following days, in an effort to highlight all the aspects of the refugee-immigration question. 

One aspect, for example, is what is happening with the so-called "Non-Governmental Organisations" (NGOs), which literally have the total control inside the refugee camps, operating as "state within the state". The government has left in their hands the infrastructures (which host refugees), while- along with the EU- provides to these NGOs financial aid of many million euros. Various organisations have taken control of all services. From the feeding sector to the entertainment of the refugee children. From Ellinikon to Ritsona, in Larisa and in Central Macedonia. 

Spain Elections: 'Podemos' coalition is a spanish version of SYRIZA; a social-democratic fraud

Alberto Garzón (left) with Pablo Iglesias.

COMMENTARY.

The electoral alliance between 'Podemos' and 'Izquierda Unida' (United Left) in Spain aims in offering an alternative of Capitalism's management. The leaders of the two parties, Pablo Iglesias and Alberto Garzón hailed the formation of the coalition as a "historic step". Amid anti-austerity fever in the country, polls in Spain show that the 'Unidos Podemos' coalition could unseat the long-established the center-left 'Socialist Party' (PSOE) for first time in Spain's political history.  Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias said the party has offered to form a coalition with PSOE after the election. "We need to agree with them [the PSOE] so that we can have a progressive government", he said.

What does Iglesias mean by "progressive government" is something we can easily understand by having a look at the 'Podemos' ideology and political program. In fact, the electoral alliance of Iglesias' party with 'Izquierda Unida' (in which the opportunistic Communist Party of Spain-PCE participates) is a spanish version of SYRIZA. It consists a social-democratic formula which uses radical slogans in order to foster illusions to spanish people that "another capitalist world is possible". The 'Podemos' program, like SYRIZA, does not - in any case- questions the EU and NATO membership of Spain. On the contrary, it tries to offer an alternative political vision within the boundaries of the capitalist system.

European Parliament: Enormous hypocrisy by SYRIZA MEPs regarding privatizations

Source: 902.gr / 

Translation: In Defense of Communism.

The hypocrisy of SYRIZA was once again highlighted during a discussion in the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg regarding a resolution which promotes the privatization of the railways. 

More specifically, the SYRIZA MEPs signed an amendment which denounces the railways privatization, while, on the same time, they promote the privatization of the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) in Greece! Furthermore, some of them signed the above resolution but avoided to sign another resolution which calls the governments (the SYRIZA-ANEL government in Greece as well) to reject the privatizations of the railways! Hypocrisy at it's best!

Addressing the plenary session the KKE MEP Sotiris Zarianopoulos said the following:

"KKE votes against the resolution because it further promotes the privatization of the railways project, in detriment to the industry's workers and the passengers as well. 

The Varoufakis Illusion- An "erratic Marxist" at the service of Capitalism

By Nikos Mottas.

Last April, the former Finance Minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis was among those who addressed one of "Nuit Debout" movement's rallies in Paris. Expressing his solidarity, Varoufakis compared the french "Nuit Debout" with the 2011 Greek movement of indignant citizens: "It was an earthquake. We changed the policy in Greece, but also in Europe" he said. Of course, that was another example of bombastic nonsense by the former Minister. 

Varoufakis and his former political alter ego, Alexis Tsipras, didn't change anything, neither in Greece nor in Europe. The coalition government of SYRIZA-ANEL, which came to power on January 2015, continued on the steps of the previous governments; they served the aim of Greek capitalism's recovery and they continue doing so. Mr.Varoufakis- who since then has been an international 'celebrity' by presenting himself as a 'guru' of economics- never disagreed on the fundamental policy of the SYRIZA government. As we wrote in a previous article ("The simple truth about Varoufakis and his DiEM25 party"), Mr.Varoufakis had agreed on the 67% of the austerity reforms, according to his own words in a Berlin press conference, on February 2015. 

Discontent for EU's anti-people policies grows- Nearly half of europeans aren't happy with the Union

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Forty-seven percent of Europeans have an unfavorable view of the European Union, a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 10 large EU states has revealedThe poll published on Tuesday showed that the number of people with favorable view of the bloc had almost come up with the number of their opponents and estimated at 51 and 47 percent respectively.

The research center added that Euroscepticism was on rise among the EU nations and in such states, as Greece, France, United Kingdom and Spain showed that EU adherents were outnumbered by their opponents.

The survey showed that such issues, as possible Brexit, migration crisis, the European Union's handling of economic problems and Brussels' policy of "ever closer union" fueled concerns of EU citizens over prospects of the bloc.

The KKE is fighting for Greece's disengagement from the EU and NATO with workers' power

Interview of the MEP of the KKE, Sotiris Zarianopoulos, with the Russian newspaper IZVESTIA. Reproduced from inter.kke.gr.

There is a scandal around the already approved plan of economic reforms proposed by the party in power, "Syriza". As it turned out after the plan has been carried out hastily through Parliament, it contains a clause that allows the country's top officials to own offshore companies. Party and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is now accused of bad faith and a departure from its own commitment to fight corruption. Could you give your reaction? Why your party think this item needs to be?

Answer: The SYRIZA-ANEL government has also been exposed by the unacceptable governmental provision concerning offshore companies, which it later withdrew. Nevertheless, the KKE stressed in Parliament that the offshore companies, the tax havens, the multifaceted privileges of capital are integral to the rotten system of exploitation today and are being reinforced in every way by the EU, which is a reactionary anti-people union. For this reason the government and the other bourgeois parties do not dare to even look at the proposals of the KKE for the abolition of the confidentiality of shares and the naming of the shareholders. We have no illusions that any provisions in the conditions of capital's dominance can deal with the decay and corruption that is a fundamental characteristic of the capitalist system. It is in its DNA.

KKE political event held in London - The political developments in Greece and Britain's EU referendum

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.
Read the full speech of G.Marinos here.

A successful political event organised by the KKE Party Organisation of Britain took place in London, with major speaker being Giorgos Marinos of the Political Bureau. The subject of the event was "The political developments in Greece, the British EU referendum and the positions of KKE". A large number of Greek immigrants, as well as British people, attented the event.

In his introductory speech, Giorgos Marinos refered to the anti-people policy of the SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government: "The political route of this government must be condemned in the peoples' conciousness, this is a precondition for the development of class-struggle and the confrontation of the fake dilemmas which favor the phony bipolarism between SYRIZA and New Democracy [...].

What the Capitalist Economic Crisis in Greece has taught us

By Nikos Mottas.

It was six years ago, on May 2010, when the then Prime Minister George Papandreou, in a televised message from the picturesque island of Kastelorizo, was announcing Greece's entry to the support mechanism of the IMF and the EU – the 'memorandum phase'. The economic crisis in Greece had manifested itself a year earlier, in 2009, when it entered in a phase of rapid recession, following the outbreak of global financial crisis in 2007-2008. Today, after four bourgeois governments (Papandreou, Papademos, Samaras, Tsipras) and three memorandums of harsh austerity packages, we can draw some significant conslusions. What did the Capitalist Economic Crisis in Greece teach us?

1. The Source of the Crisis.

Contrary to various bourgeois interpretations and theories of the economic crisis (over-consumption, casino-capitalism, etc.), there is one clear, scientifically proven, reality: Capitalism itself contains in it's DNA the inevitability of crises. Capitalist production, with it's contradictory character and anarchy, contains the seed of such crises. In Capitalist economy lies the motive to push capitalist reproduction to extremes levels, to accumulate immense profits, thus giving a monetary speculative form to the appropriation of surplus value from the working class labour. The devaluation of capital (either commercial or financial) and the devaluation of labour power (as a commodity), has occurred repeatedly in the past and will certainly occur in the future for as long as the exploitative system called 'Capitalism' exists.