Interview of Dimitris Koutsoumbas: Popular discontent can find a way out through the political proposal of KKE

Interview of the GS of the CC of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas on the ERT1 public television channel, on 24/10. Below are extended excerpts from the interview. Source: inter.kke.gr.

-        I read the following in “Rizospastis”: The day when the government begins the discussion with the “institutions” (Troika) about the new attack against working and trade union rights, SYRIZA and ND choose to squabble about their favourites and also about the misleading issue of corruption in order to hide their convergence on the antiworker measures. Is corruption a misleading issue? Can you explain this? Doesn't this issue objectively exist in our lives?

Speech by Giorgos Marinos, KKE Politburo member, at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties

"Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive-Strategy and Tactics of the Communist and Workers Parties in the struggle for peace, workers' and people's rights, for socialism." - Speech by Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the CC of KKE at the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties. 

Source: inter.kke.gr.

Dear comrades,

The Communist Party of Greece salutes the 18th International Meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties and warmly thanks the CP of Vietnam for its hospitality.

Our party has expressed its internationalist solidarity and has stood for many decades at the side of the Vietnamese people in their struggle against French and Japanese colonialism, against the imperialist intervention and crimes of the USA.

The glorious victory of the working class, of the people of Vietnam under the leadership of the Communist Party and its leader comrade Ho Chi Minh was a great victory of international significance and demonstrated that when the people are determined, well organized and armed, they can defeat the strongest opponents-dynasts and break the shackles of exploitation and oppression.

The history of the communist movement is full of heroic pages and is a valuable source for study and the drawing of conclusions that will lend strength to the communists so that they can meet the challenge of the complex conditions of the class struggle, fighting for the overthrow of capitalist exploitation and the construction of socialism-communism.

NATO Imperialists not welcome in Piraeus! KKE denounces the presense of US Navy flagship in Greek port

The presense of the United States 6th Fleet command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) and USS Mason, a US navy destroyer, in the port of Piraeus on October 24th has been strongly denounced by the KKE Piraeus Sectoral Organisation. In its announcement, the KKE calls the city's people to strengthen their struggle against the involvement of Greece in NATO's war plans. 

More specifically, the KKE Piraeus S.O. points out:

"They have the audacity to dock at the port of Piraeus, while the presense of NATO in the Black Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Aegean and the Mediterranean is enhanced, using for the last two sea areas the pretext of controlling the refugee flows which are caused and amplified by the imperialist wars and the dire consequences against the people.

Truth and Lies about Socialism: On the 60th anniversary of the counterrevolutionary events in Hungary 1956

On the 60th anniversary of the 

counterrevolutionary events in Hungary 1956.

Below you can find extracts from the publication of the CC of KNE “Truth and Lies about Socialism” (Synchroni Epohi 2012) in relation to the counterrevolutionary events that took place in Hungary in 1956.

THE COUNTERREVOLUTIONARY EVENTS IN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

"In autumn 1956, Hungary announced its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact, but Soviet troops invaded the country and suppressed the uprising."

Political event by KKE in Edinburgh: "The current political situation and the viewpoint of the Greek Communist Party"

The KKE Party Branch of Britain organises a political event in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday, October 30th. The event's title is: "The current political situation and the viewpoint of the Greek Communist Party" and will take place at 3 pm local time, at David Hume Tower building, room 4.18. 

The 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) to be held in Hanoi, 28-30 October 2016

The 18th of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) is scheduled to be held at Hanoi between 28-30 October, hosted by Communist Party of Vietnam. 

The theme of the meeting is: “Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties in the struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism.”

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) will participate in the International Meeting with a delegation which includes Giorgos Marinos, member of the Political Bureau of the CC, Eliseos Vagenas, member of the CC and responsible of the Partry's International Relations Department and Danae Helmi, collaborator of the Int. Relations Department of the CC of KKE. 

Vulgar anticommunist delirium from New Democracy's vice president Georgiadis

He is known for his far-right, nationalistic political views. A publisher, tv presenter and bookstore owner by profession, Adonis Georgiadis is the current vice president of the conservative party of "New Democracy".

He started his political career from the ultra-right, neofascist and xenophobic "Laos" party, under the leadership of Giorgos Karatzaferis. As a very frequent guest at TV political talk shows, Georgiadis never hide his vulgar, grotesque anticommunism. 

In a recent speech in the island of Chios, the VP of New Democracy unleashed another anticommunist delirium saying, among other things: "If you go to any place of the world, when you say that you are a communist you go to jail. In Greece, it's the opposite that happens".

Regarding Georgiadis' filthy remarks, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following comment:

Five years since the organized murderous attack against PAME rally in Athens

Article of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE in relation to the statements of the international Media on the murderous attack on the large demonstration of PAME.

26 October 2011.

Interview with Kostas Papadakis (KKE): "SYRIZA has been chosen by the bourgeois class to complete the dirty work..."

Special interview with Kostas Papadakis, member of the CC of the KKE and Member of the European Parliament.

International Communist Press, 17th October 2016.

ICP: After the 3rd memorandum in Greece, we are all witnessing anti-worker and anti-popular laws passing from the parliament. Is it possible to say that the people are getting more and more politicized and organized as their standard of living has been decreased into half?

Kostas Papadakis: The SYRIZA-ANEL government established its own memorandum, which was passed together with the votes of the "rightwing" and "centre" bourgeois parties (ND, PASOK, POTAMI), on the basis of the two previous memoranda. The memoranda are not just an agreement with the imperialist institutions, but the "programme" of the bourgeois class in order to return to profitability, reducing labour rights and the price of labour power.

The SYRIZA-ANEL government, taking harsh anti-worker measures, causes deep disillusionment amongst wide sections of the people. Amongst those who believed that the memoranda could allegedly be abolished via parliament and referenda.

KKE honoured the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich

"A Composer of his great era" says the banner above the orchestra. Photo from the two-day
event organised by the KKE in Athens.

In a two-day cultural event held at the Party's headquarters in Athens, the Attica Party Organisation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) honoured the legendary Soviet composer and musician Dmitri Shostakovich. 

The event began with an introductory speech by Themis Gionis, member of the CC of KKE and also member of the Political Bureau of the KKE Attica Party Organisation, who among other things said:

Comment by KKE: Syriza's "Left" is the old, classic, sinful social democracy

On the occasion of Alexis Tsipras' speech at the congress of SYRIZA, the Press Office of the CC of KKE issued the following comment:

"Yesterday Mr.Tsipras tried to give a left, progressive wrapper to the invitation of submission he sends to the people, as well as to the total transformation of SYRIZA into a bourgeois social democratic party.

The "left" which undertakes duties and responsibilities for the management of the system has nothing to do with the militant traditions of our people. It is the old, classic, sinful social democracy, which the people has experienced for many years- and which is usually in line with its supposed enemy, the "neoliberalism"-in Greece and Europe, in order to jointly vote harsh antipeople measures and memorandums. This is the source of SYRIZA's openings to various "stars" of social democracy, both in Greece and abroad.

ΚΚΕ: The Paris Agreement on the Climate provides new field of profitability for the monopolies, amid fierce competition

Source: inter.kke.gr.

The KKE delegation to the European Parliament voted against its ratification by the European Parliament.

The KKE delegation to the European Parliament voted against the ratification of the Paris Agreement on the "climate change" in the European Parliament plenary in Strasbourg, because it perpetuates the causes which cause environmental problems, the ones which the capitalist development path creates and exacerbates.

In its speech to justify its negative vote, the KKE delegation to the European Parliament stressed the following:

Thanasis Pafilis (KKE): "The capitalist way of development neither wants nor can give a better life to the people"

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

The KKE's pre-electoral evaluation that the SYRIZA government will continue towards an even worse way than the previous governments and will bring a third memorandum has been proved, Thanasis Pafilis, member of the Central Committee and Parliamentary representative of KKE pointed out in a TV interview. Talking on "Skai" Television, Pafilis said that the only hope derives from the people who must take the streets and fight for their lives; he called the people to participate in the demonstrations that will be held on October 17th by hundreds of labor unions. 

When asked about the "left" character of the government, Pafilis mentioned that the people know that "Left and NATO" are not compatible, bringing as an example the offer, by the SYRIZA-ANEL government, of a new military base to NATO at Karpathos island. 

A left party, Thanasis Pafilis said, is not the one which crushes the working people, the self-employed and the poor farmers while it gives new privileges to those who have the power; the capital and the monopoly groups. The solution, Pafilis pointed out, is not New Democracy which poses as the original best manager of the bourgeois power.

KKE General Secretary D.Koutsoumbas slams SYRIZA and New Democracy in Greek Parliament

Source: inter.kke.gr & 902.gr

An off-the-agenda Parliament debate at the level of the political leaders on the issue "the phenomena of corruption and vested interests, their influence on the institutional and political system and how to deal with them" was held on the 10th of October 2016 on the plenum of parliament. The discussion took place at the proposal of the Prime Minister, A. Tsipras, as it is a "convenient" issue of discussion for the bourgeois parties ("left", "centre" and "right"), which seek to hide their convergence in terms of serving the anti-people strategy of capital by accusing each other over issues of management, corruption and "ethics".

During his speech, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas unleashed an attack against both the SYRIZA-ANEL government and the major opposition of New Democracy for their hypocritical "cockfight" . Among other things he said:

"Upon what are you going to constrast?

KKE delegation at the European Parliament slams EU and NATO for encouraging Turkey's aggressiveness

Addressing the Plenary of the European Parliament, yesterday in Strasburg, the KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis pointed out the issue of the Turkish government's provocations which raise assertions against the sovereign rights of Greece. As MEP Papadakis mentioned, the aggressiveness of Ankara is supported by the EU and NATO. He said:

"The statements of Erdogan regarding the challenge of the Treaty of Lausanne are especially dangerous, as well as those of the Turkish Republic Party which raise non-existent sovereignty issues for 16 Greek islands. They raise questions of grey zones and borders as a continuation of a stance that nobody can underestimate: the timeless provocation, the continuous violations of the Greek sea and airspace limits, the constant challenges against Cyprus, the dispute of the Exclusive Economic Zone. 

Greece: Communist mayor slams SYRIZA government, boycotts Tsipras' fiesta

KKE-backed mayor of Kesariani,
Ilias Stamelos.

ATHENS- In a symbolic gesture which carries a great message, the communist (KKE-backed) mayor of Kesariani, Ilias Stamelos, officially denied to participate in a governmental fiesta for the 75th anniversary of the country's most significant WW2 resistance movement, EAM (National Liberation Front). The government, along with the state television, ERT, are organising an event at the Kesariani Shooting Range (Skopeftirio)* on Sunday 2 October. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is scheduled to attend the event. 

In a letter addressed to the SYRIZA-ANEL government, mayor Stamelos points out the the city council's decision to deny any participation in October 2nd governmental event. Ilias Stamelos mentions that the heroic legacy of Kesariani's Shooting Range is in contrast with the governmental policy which attacks the rights of the working people. In his letter, among other things, the communist mayor writes:

"The policy exercised by the government is in total dissociation with the struggles and the claims of Kesariani's people and is directed against the Greek people in general. The SYRIZA-ANEL government has unleashed an attack against the rights and achievements of the people. It votes and applies memorandums of austerity, thus implementing a policy which crashes the people with taxes and reductions in wages and pensions, while on the same time it offers exemptions to the big capital". [...]

KKE: Statement regarding Turkish President Erdogan’s remarks on the Treaty of Lausanne

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement regarding the remarks of the President of Turkey Tayip Erdogan on the Treaty of Lausanne:

"Erdogan’s statements are dangerous and provocative and are part of the systematic efforts of the Turkish leadership to dispute the Aegean islands and the borders and sovereign rights of Greece more generally, to raise the issue of “grey zones”.

The period when these statements were made was no accident, as the negotiations are intensifying around the “closure” of the Cyprus question, on the basis of two component states, while the bargaining over the refugee issue between Turkey and the EU is underway. With these specific statements, Turkey is objectively exerting pressure in order to settle these matters in an even more negative direction for the peoples.

Once again, the government and the other political forces have been exposed, which for many years have been reassuring the Greek people that the alliance between Greece and Turkey, in the framework of NATO, is an agent for the “peace and security in the region”, the moment when NATO not only does not subdue the aggressive designs of Turkey, but on the contrary foments and reinforces them.” 

Liars and Opportunists: SYRIZA's 180-degree shift on the privatization of Elliniko

ATHENS (28/9/2016)- Greece's parliament passed new reforms on Tuesday night to cut pension expenditure and transfer control of public utilities to a new asset fund. The reforms seek to unlock 2.8 billion euros ($3.14 billion) in financial loans as part of the country's latest bailout program. 

The reforms were passed by a narrow 152-141 majority vote in Greece's 300-seat parliament, after 152 parliamentary members of the ruling SYRIZA-Independent Greeks (ANEL) coalition approved the reform bill. Only one member of the coalition voted against the bill, along with all opposition members. KKE MPs voted against the anti-people package of laws- "It's about time for the Greek people to say: No more sacrifices for the profits of the few" stated in his speech the General Secretary of the CC of Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas.

Speech of the General Secretary of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas at the 42nd KNE-Odigitis festival

The full speech of the General Secretary of the CC of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas at the 42nd KNE-Odigitis Festival, Saturday 24 September. Source: inter.kke.gr.

Dear friends,

Dear comrades,

The festival of KNE-Odigitis every year leaves its mark. With hundreds of events all around Greece and naturally with the actvities here, in the “Antonis Tritsis” park. If some people are wondering why the festival of KNE endured when all similar initiatives of other political organizations have unraveled over  time, the answer lies in the content of the festival.

Every year, thousands of young people meet, are entertained and discuss their worries and their dreams. With the contribution of renowned artists from every field, by  promoting amateur creativity, by getting to know the workers’- people’s culture and the artistic works of great communist and progressive creators that we have the responsibility to disseminate to the younger generations.

"With KKE, on counterattack!"- Massive political event at KNE-Odigitis youth festival in Athens (PHOTOS)

Thousands of people attented a large political event during the third- and last- day of the 42nd KNE-Odigitis festival in Athens. The major speaker was the General Secretary of the CC of KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas. 

Other speakers included the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Sitaram Yetsury who delivered "red" revolutionary salutes on behalf of his country's communists and Nikos Abatielos, Secretary of the Central Council of KNE, who stressed that "our festival is a picture from the beautiful world for which our Party struggles".

In his speech, apart from the contemporary political, social and economic issues, the GS of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas refered also to the Party's 100th anniversary in 1918. He said, among other things: