PRCF on French elections: Neither Macron, nor Le Pen in the second round

Following the result of the first round of the French Presidential Election on Sunday, the Pole for Communist Revival in France (Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France, PRCF) and its youth wing, JRCF (Jeunes pour la Renaissance Communiste en France), call for a mass turnout on the second round of what they consider as an “electoral masquarade which has been locked up for months by the oligarchy”.

In a statement (here in French), the  PRCF calls the working class to abstain from voting on April 24th in order to de-legitimize the political power of the future president as much as possible. 

Fadi Kassem, the communist alternative in French elections

Numerous candidates will participate in the French presidential election which will take place on 10 April 2022. From current President Macron to Paris' mayor Anne Hidalgo and from leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon to far-right demagogues Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, all presidential candidates share a common characteristic: They are all committed to serve the bourgeois political system and protect the capitalist order in France. 

But there is an interesting exception: The candidacy of Fadi Kassem on behalf of the Pole of Communist Revival in France (Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France, PRCF), who expresses the "Red and Tricolor Alternative" in the presidential race, proposing a "frankly communist" political programme. 

KKE: Statement on government's celebrations for Rafale jets

The first six of 24 Rafale fighter aircraft acquired by the Hellenic Air Force from France arrived in Greece on Wednesday, landing at the Tanagra air base where the government organized a celebration attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

They took off from Istres in France and landed in Tanagra, where they joined the 332nd Squadron, after first flying over central Athens, escorted by two Mirage 2000-5 aircraft.

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.

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.

KKE: Statement on Greece-France defense agreement

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement on the strategic partnership between Greece and France as well as Mitsotakis and Macron’s statements:

“The people need to understand the essence behind the government’s celebrations, namely the fierce geopolitical competition and negotiations in which Greece is dangerously involved. An integral part of the above is the excessive —and never-ending— expenditure on armament programmes, which mainly serve other objectives and not the country’s defence, while the Greek people are called upon to pay for them with heavy sacrifices.

Pierre Komorov elected General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party of France

Following the death of Maurice Cukierman on July, the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party of France (PCRF) unanimously elected Pierre Komorov as the Party's new General Secretary. In a statement, the CC of the PCRF points out:

In view of the death of comrade Secretary General Maurice Cukierman on July 22, 2020, the PCRF Central Committee on August 29, 2020, unanimously elected Pierre Komorov (PK) Secretary General of the Party.

French communist Maurice Cukierman dies

Maurice Cukierman, leader of the Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF), has died at 71 after a long battle with a serious illness. 

Cukierman was born in 1949. A politically active person, he joined the Communist Youth in 1963 and the French Communist Party (PCF) in 1968.

Maurice Cukierman had active participation in numerous solidarity movements in France, such as the one for the Vietnamese people. 

During the 1970s he opposed the revisionist and eurocommunist trend within the French Communist Party. In 1982 he was among the editors of the so-called "Letter to the Central Committee", alongside Jeannette Vermeersch, Georges Bouvard, Marcel Fryedman, Jean Mérot, Jean Salem.

France: Thousands of healthcare workers in the streets said "applause is not enough"!

“Applause is not enough” said yesterday hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers throughout France, demonstrating for their jobs, their rights and the country’s public healthcare system. 

At least 250,000 protesters in Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Lille and other French cities participated in protests against Macron government’s neoliberal policies which lead to more cuts in public healthcare sector. To date, the government hasn’t responded to the major urgent demands of healthcare and hospital workers who ask for increased wages, for an end to bed and hospital closures and for an increase of healthcare workers in public hospitals with sufficient medical equipment. 

European Communist Initiative: Solidarity with the workers' strikes in France

The Secretariat of the European Communist Initiative expresses its internationalist solidarity with the workers' strikes in France and calls on the workers to express their support for the new strikes organized on 22 and 24 January in defense of labor, social insurance and pension rights, that are being trampled by the policy of the Macron government.

Workers in France, with strikes and diverse mobilizations, clash with the antilabor measures of the Macron government, of business groups and the EU, that raise pensionable ages, convert pensions into allowances and hand social security contributions and insurance fund reserves to gambling and to the business groups.

Vive la lutte des ouvriers de France! WFTU and PAME protest at the French Embassy in Athens

With a militant demonstration outside the French Embassy in Athens earlier today, members of the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) expressed their solidarity with the General Strike of December 17th and their support towards the working class of France. 

The General Secretary of WFTU George Mavrikos, alongside PAME International Relations Section's member Nikolas Theodorakis, had an one-hour meeting with the Ambassador of France and presented a motion of solidarity with French workers, demanding the immediate withdrawal of the anti-people reform project. 

France General Strike: KKE and PAME on the side of French workers

Photo: 902.gr

Members and supporters of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth wing KNE, who live and work in France, participated in the large strike rallies of December 5^th.

As 902 portal reported, holding banners with the slogan "Popular alliance against the blow on pensions by the government and the EU", KKE members and supporters stood on the side of French workers, demonstrating in Paris, Marseille, Grenoble and other big cities.

General Strike in France - Grève Générale en France: Solidarity from WFTU and PAME

Today, December 5th, thousands of workers across France participate in a nationwide general strike against the anti-people, anti-worker reforms announced by Emmanuel Macron's government. The government's reforms include several blows to the pension system, including rise in retirement age limits and reduce of financial recompensation. 

In a statement, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) expresses solidarity with the general strike of December 5th. The statement reads:

KKE: Comment on Mitsotakis-Macron meeting

On the occasion of Thursday's meeting between the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement.

The statement is the following:

"The declarations of K. Mitsotakis from Paris can be translated into new sacrifices for the Greek people in the altar of the profitability of the domestic and French capital. The reduction of taxes for the businesses and the pro-investment environment which is needed to attract french investments preoccupies a new attack on the workers-people's income, because someone has to "pay the bill". 

French communists (PRCF) demand thorough investigation on Notre Dame fire disaster

In a message published on Initiative Comuniste, the Party's journal, the national spokesman of the Pole of Communist Revival in France (Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France PRCF), Georges Gaustaud, asks for a diligent and uncompromising investigation regarding yesterday's fire disaster of Paris' embematic Notre-Dame Cathedral. 

"Not only the Catholics of France, but the French and Parisians, all humans who love the great Gothic art, no matter their religious beliefs, agnostics or atheists are upset" writes Gaustaud refering to the disturbing images of Notre Dame engulfed in flames. 

KKE expresses solidarity with the French people, condemns police repression

In a statement issued today regarding the massive mobilizations in France and the brutal repression from the side of Emmanuel Macron's government, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) points out the following:

"The KKE expresses its solidarity with the mass mobilizations of workers, students, and other popular forces over the last weeks in France, against the policy of expensive fuels and their heavy taxation.

Gilets jaunes: French communist parties reflect on "yellow vests" movement

Through written statements, the marxist-leninist Communist Parties in France have expressed their support towards the progressive demands of the "yellow vests" movement, pointing out that the anti-governmental demonstrations must take an anti-capitalist, anti-monopolies shape, against the big capital and the participation of the country in the imperialist alliances of EU and NATO. 

In a statement titled "All together against the policy of Macron, the man of financial capital", the Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRF) calls Emmanuel Macron as "the president of the rich" and reaffirms its solidarity with the "yellow vests" movement while calling for vigilance against attempts by fascist groups to take advantage of the protests. The PCRF points out that the best protection against the far-right is the mass participation of the workers, of the labor movement in the ongoing demonstrtaiuons. 

Gilets jaunes protests in France: Solidarity with the workers and people of France

Regarding the ongoing protests in France- known as the "Gilets jaunes" protests- it is important to highlight and promote internationalist solidarity towards the French working class and the comrades who are fighting against capitalist exploitation and state violence. 

At the same time, the fascist, nationalist elements which might try to politically exploit the justified indignation of the people must be isolated. 

100 years KKE: Successful events held by the Party organizations in London and Paris

From the event in London (Photo: 902.gr)

With successful political and cultural events which attracted Greek immigrants as well as local comrades the Party organizations of the KKE in Britain and France honored the 100 years of the Communist Party of Greece. 

On Saturday 17th November, the British branch of the KKE organized a successful event for the Party's 100th anniversary in the suburban district of Wood Green in London. The major speaker was Tilemachos Dimoulas, member of the Political Bureau of the CC. 

Greek debt deal: KKE slams government's celebrations, warns of new harsh policies

“The government's celebrations can not hide that yesterday's Eurogroup agreement is essentially a post-memorandum Memorandum [of austerity]. The so-called "post-memorandum" period, not only will not be accompanied by substantial relief for the working-class strata but will involve new burdens. The huge budget surpluses, the rigid surveillance and approval of the process of "reforms" by the "institutions", the privatizations, the preservation of all antipeople measures in the Memorandums, and the completion of all those “remaining issues” reveal the true outcome of the agreement" points out the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in a statement on the Eurogroup decision on Greek debt.