Greece: The prohibition of demonstrations by Mitsotakis’ government shall not pass!

On Monday, the conservative government of New Democracy (ND) submitted to the Greek Parliament a despicable bill that aims to restrict demonstrations, protest rallies and outdoor public gatherings. 

The bill stipulates that organizers will have to promptly notify police or port authorities about planned gatherings. It provides for restrictions regarding the amount of road space occupied and the location of the demo. It also allows authorities to ban demonstrations under certain conditions, and sees criminal penalties for violators.

Aris Velouchiotis: The soul of Greek Resistance

Today, June 16th, marks the 75th anniversary since the death of the iconic Greek communist guerrilla Aris Velouchiotis. A member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and First Captain of the Greek People’s Liberation Army (ELAS) during World War Two, Velouchiotis is a leading personality of the Greek Resistance against the Axis occupation. 

Aris Velouchiotis, whose real name was Thanasis Klaras, Born in Lamia to a wealthy family on August 27, 1905, Aris studied at Larisa’s Averoff Agricultural School and worked briefly as an agronomist. 

Moving to Athens, he became a member of the Communist Youth (OKNE) in 1922 and a member of the KKE in 1925. Due to his radical, communist views he was sent to Kalpaki Disciplinary Platoon, an army camp where communist soldiers were imprisoned and tortured. 

Capitalism is the virus: Large workers' rally by PAME and Trade Unions in Athens

Under the slogans “Take a breathe. Break the chains of exploitation” and “Poverty, unemployment and authoritarianism: Capitalism is the virus” thousands of people, workers, students, young men and women participated in a large rally organized by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), Trade Unions and Labour Centers in Athens, Greece.

The rally was organized as a response to the anti-worker attack of the conservative ND government which tries, once again, to shift the burden of the new economic crisis to the people. 

KKE responds to the fabrications published in "Die Rote Fahne" online newspaper

On June 6, 2020, an article titled "The Migration Issue "divides" the Left" was published online in Greece. The author of the article is a geologist who had studied in Germany and lives in Athens. It refers to an article in the German online newspaper "DIE ROTE FAHNE", which deals with the migration issue in Europe and criticises the ΚΚΕ for ..."deficient analysis". 

The author of the article claims that what we are dealing with is a "not so friendly reaction of the "fraternal" Communist Party of Germany, KPD (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands).

From Athens to Minneapolis: Greek Communist Youth protest George Floyd's murder

Under the slogan “Capitalism means I can’t breathe”, hundreds of members and supporters of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), the youth wing of the KKE, participated on Monday in protests against the murder of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In Athens, the mobilization of KNE took place outside the U.S. embassy where the young communists shouted slogans against the barbarity and repression of the capitalist system. Some of the slogans were “War, poverty, racism, this is capitalism” and “Capitalists’ democracy means repression and violence for the people”. 

EastMed pipeline and the position of the KKE

THE POSITION OF THE KKE ON EAST-MED PIPELINE

The ruling right-wing party New Democracy, together with the "left" party SYRIZA, the Social Democratic Party KINAL/PASOK and the far-right party Hellenic Solution, aligning with the dirty plans of the USA - NATO - EU - Israel and having their eye on the "upgrade" of the bourgeoisie of Greece, voted on 15/05/20 in the Plenary Session of the Parliament the agreement for the gas pipeline "East Med" with concise procedures.

Charilaos Florakis Remembered: The story of a Greek communist leader

By Nikos Mottas.

It was the 22nd of May 2005 when Charilaos Florakis, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) from 1972 to 1991, passed away at the age of 91. Florakis' life and activity, identified with the history and struggles of the KKE, was devoted to the ideals of marxism-leninism.

Born in 1914 in Paliozoglopi, a small village in Thessaly, Charilaos Florakis became a member of OKNE, the Communist Party’s Youth Wing, in 1929. As an OKNE member and later as a student and active worker at the so-called “TTT” (Posts, Telegraphs, Telephone Offices) he began his political activity, during a socially and politically turbulent period for Greece. 

Greece: PAME’s impressive May 1st rally caused nightmares to anti-communists

The impressive May Day rally in Athens / Photo: Reuters.

The great, eye-catching demonstration  organized by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) on May 1st in Athens' Syntagma Square caused nightmares to anti-communists and various apologists of capitalist barbarity. 

The enemies of the working class from all over the bourgeois political spectrum, from Golden Dawn's neo-Nazi criminals to conservative New Democracy MPs and from far-right charlatans to SYRIZA's social democrats, expressed their deep discomfort for the celebration of the International Workers’ Day.

"The deadliest virus is capitalism": Great May Day rally by PAME in Athens

In a rally with great symbolism, workers and labour unions honored the International Workers’ Day in Athens’ Syntagma Square, thus sending a powerful message of proletarian solidarity. 

Organized by the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), the rally took place with all the necessary measures of protection due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the protestors keeping distance from each other, wearing masks and gloves. 

Workers' May Day 2020: Message by the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)

Message by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) on the occasion of the International Workers' Day:

This year’s Workers’ May Day finds the working class of our country and all over the world in the middle of a pandemic. The working people, the poor popular strata are once again the great victims of this “healthcare” crisis that functions as a catalyst for a new deep capitalist economic crisis, but also for the promotion of plans and demands from big capital and its political representatives.

The collapse of the public healthcare system, even in the apex of capitalism, the USA, despite the heroism of healthcare workers there, the intensification of labor and the lack of even the most basic protection measures with risks to the lives and the health of the working people, unemployment, the testing out of new, more advanced forms of exploitation, such as telework, are just a few of the daily images that reveal the decay and the historical bankruptcy of capitalism.

The "New Marshall Plan" — The new, yet very old, "Great Idea" of the European capital and the communists' response

The following article, written by the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas, was published in the weekend edition of "Rizospastis" newspaper on 11-12 April 2020: 

THE "NEW MARSHALL PLAN"

The new, yet very old, "Great Idea" of the European capital and the communists' response

Greece: Action Day on Healthcare "We break the silence- Masked mouths still have a voice"

Under the slogan “We break the silence, we raise our voice for the people’s health”, numerous class workers’ unions, unions of doctors and medical staff, participate in today’s Action Day throughout Greece. 

The Action Day on Healthcare has been an initiative of the Association of Hospital Doctors of Greece (OENGE) which has been in the front line of the struggle for the protection of the people’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. 

Greece: The "Black Bible of Employers during the Pandemic" presented by PAME

In a press conference held on Thursday 2 April in Athens, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME) presented numerous cases of anti-worker policies and tactics implemented by big businesses during the last weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.

Nikos Papageorgiou, member of the PAME Secretariat, pointed out that there is “an unprecedented attack by the big employers who are utilizing all the measures taken by the government”, adding that “with most businesses closed, the government has issued Decree Laws including provisions that abolish labour rights, cut in half the already miserable wages, empower employers with the right to pay us whenever they want, to employ us whenever, wherever and however they want.” 

KKE: Response to ND - SYRIZA hypocrisy over MP and state officials' salaries

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis requested that the members of the Cabinet and the MPs of the governing New Democracy (ND) party deposit half their salary, for the next two months, in order to support the special fund that has been set up to combat coronavirus oubreak.

SYRIZA, for its part, competing with the government in its efforts to impress, called for a mandatory, not voluntary, reduction in parliamentary salaries and benefits for all state and government officials.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: “EU solidarity is a joke, capitalism itself has bankrupted”

With an article published in the weekend edition of the KKE’s newspaper “Rizospastis”, General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas refers to the COVID-19 situation and the political consequences of the current pandemic.  

Under the title “The end of myths and illussions”, the article draws important conclusions about healthcare in capitalism, highlighting the fact that the pandemic shows the limitations of the capitalist system itself. 

Greek Left's veteran Manolis Glezos dies at 98

Manolis Glezos, a resistance fighter during the Nazi occupation of Greece in the Second World War and a prominent figure of Greek left-wing politics, has died in Athens at the age of 98. 

Manolis Glezos acquired fame when, alongside his friend Apostolos Santas, climbed on the Acropolis on May 30, 1941 and tore down the Nazi swastika flag. This action became an inspiration for the people who were fighting against occupation, while Glezos and Santas were established as international anti-Nazi heroes. 

Covid-19 in Greece: KKE on the forefront of the struggle for the protection of workers-people’s health

"The KKE is by your side. No fear, no one alone! Together
we will get through it", reads a Party poster (left).

“We stay strong” is the message of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) which has launched powerful initiatives demanding immediate measures for the protection of the working people’s health in face of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We stay militant in support of the workers-people’s rights! By the side of doctors and nurses, in their efforts to respond to the “war” but also in their demands for adequate and proper weapons in this war”, writes a post on 902 portal. 

Refugee Crisis: Militant intervention by Greek communists in the developments

The following article provides a thorough outline of the position and initiatives of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) regarding the ongoing refugee situation in the borders between Greece and Turkey and the Greek islands: 

Militant intervention by the communists in the developments concerning the Refugee question

By Nikos Sofianos*

Coronavirus in Greece: The government must take protection measures for all workers

Addressing the issue of public health due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), PAME and Workers’ Unions have urged the government to take immediate measures of protection. 

In a statement today the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas said that, additionally to the advise provided by the National Organization of Public Health (EODY), the government must take measures which will ensure the protection of public health and the workers’ rights. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas on refugee crisis: "Dublin Regulation, EU-Turkey deal must be abolished"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas gave an interview to “Real News” newspaper where, among other things, he refered to the ongoing refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders. Below you can read the excerpts of his answers:

“There is no greatest depravity than using uprooted, tortured people for your own aspirations, like Erdogan does, who blackmails for more support by the EU and NATO for his intervention in Northern Syria as well as in his other plans. For that reason, the needed protection of the borders can neither target the refugees nor acquitting EU and NATO which uproot people and have led to the entrapment of thousands of refugees in the Aegean islands and in Evros, thus playing Erdogan’s game. And certainly it cannot be utilized for the emboldenment of reactionary, racist voices”.