Koutsoumbas at 52nd KNE-Odigitis Festival: “Socialism or Barbarism is a question of today”

The 52nd KNE-Odigitis Festival concluded in Athens with a mass political gathering at Tritsis Park and a speech by Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), who called on workers and youth to strengthen their struggle against capitalist exploitation, imperialist war and Greece’s involvement in US-NATO plans. 

 

According to 902.gr portal, tens of thousands attended the closing gathering, while hundreds of thousands had taken part in Festival events across Greece. 

 

“Socialism or Death!”: KNE-Odigitis Festival honors Fidel Castro, reaffirms solidarity with socialist Cuba

The revolutionary legacy of Fidel Castro and the struggle to defend socialist Cuba against US imperialist aggression were at the centre of a major political discussion held during the 52nd KNE-Odigitis Festival, organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) in Athens.

The event, marking the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth, brought together a large audience to discuss the historical significance of the Cuban Revolution, proletarian internationalism and the challenges facing Cuba amid Washington’s escalating economic pressure and imperialist threats.

 

More than 25 Communist and Anti-imperialist Youth Organizations to join KNE-Odigitis Festival in Athens

Archive Photo

Dozens of communist and anti-imperialist youth organizations from across the world are expected to take part in the International City (Diethnoupoli) of the 52nd Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) – Odigitis, whose central events will be held in Athens on 23–26 September 2026.

Under the banner “Workers of all countries, unite!”, the International City will once again serve as a meeting point for young communists from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas, offering space for political discussion, exchange of experience and internationalist solidarity. 

 

Secretary Koutsoumbas from Piraeus: “The KKE is the real opponent of capital’s policies”

The heart of the 52^nd Festival of KNE–“Odigitis” beat strongly in the working-class neighbourhoods of Piraeus. Its political and cultural events culminated on Saturday 21 June in a large political rally addressed by the General Secretary of the KKE Central Committee, Dimitris Koutsoumbas. It was a rally marked by special energy, determination, and mass participation.

Among other things, the GS of the CC of the KKE noted in his speech that “today, all developments make it clear that the gap is widening between the potential that exists to radically improve our lives and the way we actually live under the current exploitative system. 

“The Spark Will Become a Fire”: KNE Festival in Athens Draws Mass Crowds, Sends Message of Struggle

Under a sky lit by flares and smoke, the 51st KNE-Odigitis Festival unfolded in Athens' Tritsis Park, drawing tens of thousands of young people and workers. 

The park transformed into a crimson citadel of defiance, echoing the Festival’s resounding slogan: “The spark will become a fire — with KKE strong, steadfast in every trial, ready at the call of History, for socialism.” For four days, Tritsis Park became a living “red city.” KNE’s organizations from every region marched in with banners, chants, and raised fists. 

Palestinian and Israeli Young Communists Unite at KNE Festival: Against War and Occupation

At the 51st KNE–Odigitis Festival, the annual gathering of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) in Athens, the event “With Palestine Toward Freedom” became a powerful declaration of internationalist solidarity. 

It was not simply a cultural tribute but a militant denunciation of war, genocide, and imperialism, affirming that true solidarity means exposing and confronting the real guilty parties: the imperialist powers, their governments, and the system of exploitation that sustains them.

More than 30 Communist and Antiimperialist Youths to participate at the 51st KNE Festival in Athens

Photo from the 50th KNE Festival in 2024 (Odigitis.gr)

More than 30 Communist Youths and Anti-imperialist Organizations are going to participate at the 51st KNE-Odigitis Festival organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) on 24-27 September 2025 in Athens. 

Like every year, KNE-Odigitis Festival will host the “International City” (Diethnoupolis) at Tritsis Park, where delegations from several Youth organizations from across the world will have the opportunity to exchange opinions and experience from the struggle, as well as the promote and coordinate their joint fight. 

Our Future is Socialism: Massive attendance at the 50th Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece in Athens

The events of the 50th Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) and its magazine, Odigitis, which took place in all major cities of Greece and concluded in the 4-day political and cultural events in Athens, were successfully completed on Saturday 21/9.

For four consecutive days, tens of thousands of people and youth attended political debates, concerts, exhibitions, theatrical plays and other activities. 

Emir Kusturica: "It's hopeful that there are Communist Parties like the KKE in Greece"

Emir Kusturica, the internationally acclaimed Serbian film director, participated at the 50th KNE-Odigitis Festival in Thessaloniki, where he was the keynote speaker in a public discussion titled “25 years since the war in Yugoslavia – When Art resists barbarism”. 

 

The event, held on Thursday 12/9, was attended by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas and hundreds of party friends, workers and festival's visitors. 

 

Proletarian internationalism at its best: 45 Communist Youths to participate at the 50th KNE Festival

At least 45 Communist Youths and Anti-imperialist Organizations are going to participate at the 50th KNE-Odigitis Festival organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) on 18-21 September in Athens.

Like every year, KNE-Odigitis Festival will host the “International City” (Diethnoupolis) at Tritsis Park, where delegations from numerous Youth organizations from across the world will have the opportunity to exchange opinions and experience from the struggle, as well as the promote and coordinate their joint fight. 

 

Communist Youth of Greece: The 50th KNE-Odigitis Festival to be held on 18-21 September in Athens

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Greece's most popular and successful youth festival; the KNE-Odigitis Festival organized annually by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), the youth wing of the KKE.

Under the slogan "We write history, we change the world - Our future is Socialism", the festival celebrates its 50 years, the central events of which are scheduled to take place between 18 and 21 of September in Athens. 

The KKE will continue raising the banner of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism

On 22/9, the delegations of Communist Youth and Anti-Imperialist Organizations that visited Athens in the framework of the 49th  KNE-Odigitis Festival had the opportunity to meet with a delegation of the CC of the KKE in order to be informed about the developments in Greece and the action of the KKE. 

 

Eliseos Vagenas, member of the CC of the KKE and head of the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE, delivered a speech, which reads as follows:

Communist Youth Festival in Athens concluded with an awe-inspiring political event

With an awe-inspiring political event held on Saturday 23 September in Athens, the 49th KNE-Odigitis Festival, organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), concluded this year's journey. 

In a fully-packed Tritsis Park, thousands communists, workers, people of every age, men and women, attended the event, where the keynote speaker was Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). 

The 49th KNE Festival to be held on 21-22-23 September in Athens: "...so that the light vanquish the darkness”

Under the slogan “With the KKE, for Socialism, so that the light vanquish the darkness”, inspired by communist poet Nazim Hikmet, the central events of the 49th festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), commonly known as KNE-Odigitis Festival, will take place on 21-23 September 2023 in Athens.

The festival, which is traveling in many Greek cities throughout July and August, includes numerous political and cultural events.

Dimitris Koutsoumbas' speech: "With the KKE, for the great, the beautiful and utterly amazing, for Socialism!"

The events of the 48th Festival of KNE-Odigitis in Athens were successfully completed on Saturday 24 September. The huge “Antonis Tritsis” Park proved too small to host the tens of thousands of people and youth that participated inthe events. 

 

The Festival culminated with the keynote speech of the GS of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas, preceded by an address by the Secretary of the CC of KNE, Nikos Ambatielos.

The full speech by Dimitris Koutsoumbas reads as follows:

Massive crowds at the Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) in Athens

Photos: 902.gr.

The 48th Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), known as KNE-Odigitis Festival, was successfully concluded on Saturday night at the fully-packed Athens' Tritsis Park following a large, awe-inspiring political event where the keynote speaker was Dimitris Koutsoumbas, the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE. The opening speech at the event was delivered by Nikos Abatielos, Secretary of the CC of KNE.

Thousands of communists, workers, people of every age, men and women, attended the event thus sending a powerful message of unwavering struggle alongside the KKE, against capitalist exploitation and imperialist wars, for socialism. 

Ukrainian, Russian young communists give lesson on proletarian internationalism

By Nikos Mottas.

In a period when the various modern Kautskyites and other opportunists continue to promote the interests of the Russian bourgeois class thus becoming eager servants of the reactionary Putin government in its fierce competition with the western imperialists, young communists from Russia and Ukraine send a powerful message of proletarian internationalism from Athens.

The photo from the 48th KNE-Odigitis Festival, where 35 foreign delegations of Communist Youths are represented, is revealing: Side by side, the Revolutionary Communist Youth League of Russia (Bolsheviks) and the Youth Wing of the Union of Communists of Ukraine remind us that the only thing that can actually oppose bourgeois nationalism, chauvinism and fascism, is proletarian internationalism. 

The 48th KNE-Odigitis Festival kicked off in Athens

The 48th KNE-Odigitis Festival, the annual festival organized by the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), kicked off on Thursday at Tritsis Park, Athens. 

 

Thousands of people of every age, from every corner of Athens but also from other cities, attended the events of the first day which included music concerts, political discussions, stand up comedy and other activities. 

D. Koutsoumbas: The peoples’ struggle can put an end to the causes of the bloodshed of war

The 48th festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) continues with a wide range of political and cultural activities. On Saturday 17/9/22, the GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, addressed a speech at the events in Thessaloniki. 

 

In his speech, he highlighted the strategic identification of the parties supporting Euro-Atlanticism and the choices of capital and referred in detail to the struggle of the KKE and its political proposal. He devoted an important part of his speech to international developments and the KKE’s assessments of them,an extensive excerpt of which reads as follows:

The 48th KNE Festival to be held on 22-24 September in Athens

Under the slogan “The new generation with KKE for the big, the beautiful, the sensational” (N. Beloyannis)- Socialism, the answer in the 21st century”, the central events of the 48th festival of the Communist Youth of Greece, commonly known as KNE-Odigitis Festival, will take place on 22-24 September in Athens. This year's slogan is inspired by Greek communist hero, Nikos Beloyannis, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of his execution.

The festival, which is traveling in many Greek cities and towns throughout July and August, includes numerous political as well as cultural events.