The stance of the communists towards the imperialist war in Ukraine

By Nikos Mottas.

The inter-imperialist confrontation between the Euro-Atlantic powers (USA, NATO, EU) and Russia in Ukraine inevitably brings to the fore serious ideological-political disagreements and chronic contradictions that exist in the international communist movement.

The Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine emphatically highlights the misconception that exists in part of the communist movement concerning the issue of imperialism. A number of self-proclaimed “communist” forces are either unable, or deliberately avoid, to conceive imperialism through Leninist criteria. Instead, they disconnect economy from politics, overlook the fact that the competition between the monopolies is the basis for the sharpening of international conflicts and focus unilaterally on the aggressive foreign policy of specific states and alliances (e.g. USA, NATO, EU). 

KKE in EU Parliament: Urgent question about the arrest of Kononovich brothers in Ukraine

With a question submitted to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, the European Parliament Group of the  Communist Party of Greece (KKE) denounces the arrest of the two members of the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine, Mikhail and Aleksander Kononovich (read here) and demands from the EU Commission to express its position on the issue of anti-communist persecutions in the country. 

More specifically the urgent question submitted by the KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis reads:

Women's Day 2022: Statement by the World Federation of Trade Unions

In a statement about the Working Women's Day, the Secretariat of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) stresses out:

8 March 1857 – 8 March 2022: 165 years later

165 years ago, when the women workers in the New York textile mills, on March 8, 1857, went on strike and demonstrated for “ten-hour work, bright and sanitary workrooms, wages equal to those of male textile workers and tailors”, they certainly did not imagine that in 2022 all these demands would still be demanded.

War and the dirty role of social democracy

From left to right: Olaf Scholz, Alexis Tsipras, Pedro Sanchez.

The following article is based on a piece published in the weekend edition (5-6 March, 2022) of "Rizospastis", the daily newspaper of the CC of KKE, under the title "Social democracy's dirty job in times of war":

“If you had picked up the phone to call the party leaders, I might have told you my opinion, but not now after the fact, like the other political leaders. I would tell you that it would be better to send humanitarian aid, it would be better to send non-lethal equipment, like Spain and Italy did”. 

Alert: Ukrainian authorities arrested Communist Youth leader and his brother

In an urgent statement posted in social media accounts the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) points out:

"The First Secretary of our Ukrainian member organisation, the Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine, Mikhail Kononovich, and his brother, Aleksander Kononovich, have been arrested by the Ukrainian neo-fascist regime during the last hours. 

 

They have been accused of being Russian and Belarusian spies. They will be possibly murdered in the following hours.

Cuba to host the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties in 2022

Havana, Cuba's capital city, will be the hosting place of the 22nd International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP) on October 27-29, 2022. 

According to 902 portal, the decision was taken in yesterday's session of the Working Group of IMCWP in Lisbon, under the participation of 25 Communist and Workers Parties, 

Statement by the Cuban Government on Ukraine war

In a statement issued on February 26th, two days after the beginning of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Revolutionary Government of Cuba stressed out the following:

"The U.S. determination to continue NATO’s progressive expansion toward the Russian Federation’s borders has brought about a scenario with implications of unpredictable scope, which could have been avoided. 

European Communist Initiative on Ukraine war

In a statement on the recent Russian invasion in Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Initiative of Communist and Workers Parties stresses out the following:

"Three decades after the dissolution of the USSR and the imperialist war in Yugoslavia, a new war broke out on European territory. The unacceptable Russian military intervention and invasion of Ukraine has been prepared all the previous years through the USA, NATO, and EU intervention, their support for the reactionary government of Kyiv, the paramilitary mechanisms andfascist groups in Ukraine as well as the plan for the economic, political, and military encirclement of Russia.

KKE condemns blocking of "Russia Today" and "Sputnik" transmission in Greece

In a statement issued today the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) condemns the ban on the transmission of “Russia Today” and “Sputnik” news networks in Greece, calling it an “unacceptable and dangerous action”. The KKE also points out that the sanctions on RT and Sputnik is part of an effort to enforce the propaganda and fake news directed by the Euro-Atlantic side.
 
More analytically the KKE statement (here in Greek) reads: 

KKE leader Koutsoumbas blasts PM Mitsotakis on Greece's involvement in Ukraine war

The government of the right-wing ND party with the support of the other bourgeois parties of the social-democratic “left” SYRIZA and the also social-democratic KINAL/PASOK proceeds with the deeper involvement of Greece in the ongoing imperialist war in Ukraine, always on the side of the USA–NATO–EU. This was apparent in the discussion between the leaders of the political parties in the Plenary Session of the Parliament on 1 March 2022.

In his speech, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of the KKE, stressed, among other things, the following:

South African Communist Party condemns racism and discrimination against Africans in Ukraine

In a statement, the South African Communist Party (SACP) condemns the disrespectful attitudes unleashed recently against African people by state actors and others in Ukraine. 

 

The statement also slams NATO aggressive expansion eastwards and calls all parties involved to work towards a peaceful resolution in the situation.  

 

More specifically, the statement of the SACP reads: 

KKE MEPs reject EU Parliament's resolution on Ukraine

The MEPs of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) voted against the European Parliament's resolution “On the Russian aggression against Ukraine” because it moves in the - dangerous for the people- direction of escalation of the EU-NATO-US conflict with capitalist Russia. 

 

The resolution promotes the directions of increasing the aggression of the EU and its monopoly groups it represents in the imperialist war that is taking place on Ukrainian territory. It calls for a new round of EU sanctions against Russia, including blocking her from the ports of EU member-states.