KKE in the European Parliament: Regarding the issue of the new anti-communist law in Bulgaria

Source: inter.kke.gr.

On the 24^th of November 2016 in Bulgaria a "Law for the amending and supplementing of the Law which declares the communist regime in Bulgaria as criminal” was voted upon in first reading, which among other things provocatively provides for the prohibition of the use and placement of  communist symbols and the removal of symbols, slogans, photographs, signs and other marks or objects from the years of socialism from public spaces or, if it is not possible to remove them immediately, the placement of a sign on these which will refer the following: "the communist regime in Bulgaria during the period 09.09.1944 - 11.10.1989 and the actions of the CP of Bulgaria have been declared criminal by a law voten upon by the 38th National Assembly."

Penalties and large fines are also foreseen for those who do not comply, as well as provisions to the Ministry of Education, the universities, schools, the deans, professors and teachers to harmonize school and university books with this unacceptable law.

KKE: On the developments regarding the "Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)" between the EU and Canada and the stance of the SYRIZA-ANEL government

Statement of the KKE delegation to the European Parliament.

The complications - due to conflicts within the EU – concerning the ratification of the «Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)» between the EU and Canada which was scheduled for the 27/10/2016 does not mean that the peoples can rest easy. These conflicts have nothing to do with people's interests. They express instead violent contradictions among various monopolies, on the basis of their own interests and plans.

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.

Cyprus Issue: The developments require the intensification of peoples' intervention

The developments require the intensification of peoples' intervention.

By Giorgos Marinos* / Source: inter.kke.gr.

The Cyprus Issue, under its present form, was caused by the Turkish invasion and occupation in July and August (Attila II) of 1974 and remains unsolved for 42 years.

During this historical period, many means of negotiations were used, multifaceted UN interventions, joint statements and many meetings between representatives of the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities etc, but the problem still remains.

The Turkish insistence on the continuation of the occupation found supporters in powerful imperialist powers which, among other things, bare responsibility for the creation and perpetuation of the Cyprus Issue, such as the US, NATO, Britain and the EU in general.

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. 

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.” 

The downward spiral of European opportunism has no end

The downward spiral of European opportunism has no end.

Comment published on 'Rizospastis' (24/9/2016), 
Source: inter.kke.gr.

It is well-known that European capital and its union, the EU, have acquired for many years now its "leftwing chorus". Various parties are playing this role, parties that call themselves "progressive" and "leftwing" even some parties that keep a "communist" title, having for many decades now been assimilated into the opportunist, social-democratic current of "Eurocommunism". 

The latter, such as, for example the French Communist Party (PCF) have for many years been divorced from Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism, have even abandoned the historic symbols of the communist movement and in the name of the "left' have become the "tail" of social-democracy and also whitewash the capitalist system and the imperialist unions of the EU and NATO. However, they keep the "communist" name and in this way, apart from their misleading activity in their own countries, even participate in the International Meetings of the CPs, seeking to play a similar role. If we can judge from the events of the recent festival of "L'Humanite", the newspaper of the PCF, the downward spiral has no end.

The EU officially denies to compensate people affected by large wildfire in Greece

Photo from the large forest fire in northern Euboea, last August.

According to the portal 902.gr, the European Union denied to use solidarity and regional funds in order to compensate the- affected by extensive forest fire- residents and retsina producers in northern Euboea, Greece. Replying to a question by the EU Parliament delegation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the EU tries to downgrade the importance of the damage created by the wildfires. Additionally, from the answer of the EU becomes clear that the Greek government, which bares huge responsibilities for cuts in public spending including in firefighting equipment and personnel, didn't claim any compensation for the victims of the wildfire.

Below, you can read the question submitted by the KKE MEP Konstantinos Papadakis and the reply provided on behalf of the EU by commissioner Ms.Corina Crețu.

Question by KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis, 5 August 2016.

KKE: Statement regarding PM Tsipras' remarks on the refugee-migrant crisis

Regarding the speech of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the 71st UN General Assembly- and his remarks on the refugee crisis- the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece issued the following statement:

"The Prime Minister not only didn't find a word to say about the real causes and those responsible for the wars and the refugee crisis in our region, but, furthermore, he justified the violation of the refugees' rights and of the Geneva Convention by adopting the arguments of the imperialist staffs about the "maintaining of social cohesion" and "public safety".

However, the refuge isn't a natural phenomenon; it is caused by the imperialist war, the antagonisms between the powerful ones, the poverty that capitalist exploitation creates.

KKE General Secretary D.Koutsoumbas: "Tsipras has surpassed all limits of political deception against our people"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas visited the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) on Wednesday and Thursday, where he attended a press conference. The General Secretary delivered an introductory speech and then he answered to the questions of the press. 

In his speech c.Koutsoumbas accused the SYRIZA-ANEL government and the EU for their antipeople policies as well as the New Democracy opposition and the other bourgeois parties. The General Secretary refered to the contemporary political and socio-economic issues, from government's attack against labour rights to various racist, anti-refugee incidents in the country. 

Here are some basic parts of c.Koutsoumbas speech:

"The EU cannot be humanized"- Statement of the KKE about the EU Summit in Bratislava

On the ocassion of the European Union Summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement:

"The contrasts within the EU do not concern the peoples' rights, but the fight about how every state will protect it's own monopolies, especially under conditions when the economic capitalist crisis hasn't been overcome and the forecasts about the economy in the EU and Eurozone are even more ominous.

Besides, while they are fighting about the management mixture (policy) and the future of the EU/Eurozone, they - both social democratic and neoliberal governments - jointly crush the working-peoples' rights and co-decide the more active EU involvement in wars and interventions, within the framework of her antagonism with other imperialist centers.

The provocative stance of the EU and Tsipras' government on the issue of Germany's WWII Reparations

In a joint press conference held in Strasburg on Tuesday, the KKE delegation in the European Parliament and the National Union of Fighters of the National Resistance and the Democratic Army of Greece (PEAEA– DSE) denounced the decision of the Europarliament's Petitions Committee to reject, without any investigation, the report regarding the German WWII reparations towards Greece.

European Communist Initiative: Statement on the meeting of the so-called “Alliance of the South” in Athens

From left to right: French President Francois
Hollande, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras and Spain's
PM Mariano Rajoy. (Archive Photo).

The European Communist Initiative carried out an important intervention regarding the upcoming meeting of the heads of the states of the so-called “European South”, which the Greek government is organizing on the 9^thof September in Athens.

The “European Communist Initiative” notes in this statement that the organizers of this meeting aim to utilize it to reinforce the illusions of the peoples of Europe about an “Alliance of the South”, which will allegedly “put an end to austerity” and calls on the peoples to strengthen their struggle to overturn the anti-people political line of the EU and the capitalist system which they serve.

The full statement of the Secretariat of “European Communist Initiative” can be found below:

“A conference of the leaders of the Mediterranean countries of the EU, of the so-called "South" of the EU, will be held in Athens on the 9th of September, at the initiative of the "left" SYRIZA-ANEL government of the new memoranda and the dozens of anti-worker measures, and will be focused on the developments in the EU, the refugee-immigrant question and the notorious issue of "development".

Mr. Tsipras' new fairytale can no longer convince the people

Source: inter.kke.gr.

The overwhelming majority of the Greek people are being called on in this period by the "left" government to pay an unbearable property tax, which had been introduced by the previous government. This is a tax that has been kept in place and intensified by SYRIZA, despite its pre-election promises to abolish it. And it is precisely this period that the Prime Minister, A.Tsipras chose to spread new illusions amongst the people, by supporting with gusto in an interview with the newspaper "Real News" the fairytale of supposedly "just" development. He also seeks to utilize the upcoming meeting of the leaders of the EU's Mediterranean countries, which he is convening in Athens, in this direction.

He said, when explaining the goals of the attempted coordination of the states of the "South" on behalf of their bourgeoisies,  that the aim was to push for the transfer of funds to the periphery in order to support the capitalist recovery and the way out from the economic crisis. And he noted: "We do not want to be the poor periphery of the EU, we want to be a new centre, with an agenda and positive proposals for development and social cohesion."

European Parliament Group of KKE: Denouncement of the anticommunist events of EU and Slovak Presidency

Source: 902.gr

The European Parliament Group of KKE denounces the anticommunist events organised by the EU and the EU Slovak Presidency. The events are taking place in the framework of the so-called "European Day of Remembrance for victims of the totalitarian regimes" which the EU has set to be observed on August 23rd. Participants in these events are representatives of the Ministries of Justices of the EU member-states, various "institutes" and NGOs which are financed by EU funds having as an ordered mission the slandering of Socialism and the rewriting of History.

A clear aim of this anticommunist gathering is the manipulation of the conciousness of the working people, first and foremost of the youth, using as weapons the counterfeiting of History, the slander against the unprecedented gains of the working people in Socialism. Through the unhistorical equalization of fascism and communism, they finally seek to acquit the fascist monster and the "womb" which gives birth and reproduces it; the capitalist system. 

The EU justifies the shameful anti-communist hysteria in Poland

The EU does not condemn the anticommunist persecution in Poland, but even seeks to justify it.

Source: inter.kke.gr.

The answer of the EU commission is unacceptable in relation to the question of the KKE’s delegation in the European Parliament regarding the unacceptable decisions of the Polish courts against members and cadres of the CP of Poland, with sentences of up to 9 months in prison, because it is considered an “offense” and crime to disseminate their ideas in the “Brzask” newspaper and the website www.kompol.org. Not only did it not condemn the anticommunist persecution, but it even attempted to legally justify it by invoking the non-application of the reactionary EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 

While the Commission and other EU bodies are very noisy in other instances that are convenient for their interests, in the face of the anticommunist hysteria it pretends to “wash its hands of it”. While it presents itself as being … sensitive and an unsolicited “defender of human rights”, intervening in the internal affairs of states all over the world, using all forms of imperialist interventions and pressure, it finds nothing to say about anticommunist persecution and bans.

Intervention of KKE: Anti-communism and the glorification of Nazism

Source: inter.kke.gr.

On the 29^th of June, the CP of Ukraine organized a meeting on the margins of the Summit of the Human Rights’ Council of the UN against anti-communism, the persecution at the expense of the CPU and the attempts to rehabilitate Nazism and its supporters in Ukraine. The KKE was invited to this meeting and its representative, Vangelis Katsiavas, cadre of the KKE’s delegation in the European Parliament, made an intervention as did the President of the CP Ukraine, Pyotr Simonenko and a representative of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

The speech of the KKE’s representative is as follows:

“INTERVENTION AT THE EVENT ON THE "GLORIFICATION OF NAZISM"

We would like to thank you greatly for the invitation to this exceptionally interesting discussion.

KKE: "The Warsaw Summit proved the criminal role of NATO"

On the occasion of the NATO Summit in Warsaw, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) released the following statement:

"Pro-Peace declarations with dangerous heated-war decisions".

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

The Summit of NATO in Warsaw proved, once again, the criminal role of this imperialist organisation, which decided:

- the further concentration and redeployment of wartime military forces to countries which border with Russia,

- the completion of the installation and operation of the so-called "Missile Shield" with bases in Romania, Poland, with  the naval support and general infrastructure connected to the use of nuclear weapons in a destructive showdown. Its not accidental that the Declaration of the Summit's conclusions states the readiness of NATO to use nuclear weapons,

An Unholy Alliance: The ties of Social Democracy and the 'New Left' with NATO and Fascists in Ukraine

The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation and its alliance with Ukrainian leftists supporting a pro-NATO course against Russia. 

Source: NewColdWar.org / Original Source: Junge Welt & [2].

An unholy alliance of leftists supporting a pro-NATO course against Russia, By Susann Witt-Stahl and Denis Koval, published in German in Junge Welt, June 25, 2016.

The Die Linke (Left Party)-affiliated Rosa Luxemburg Foundation wants to play it safe. It relies not on historical pro-Soviet or Marxist left traditions but instead promotes a “new left”. The foundation is named after a world-renowned icon of anti-capitalist movements whose identity is bound with communist and anti-imperialist ideas. But the members of the Foundation’s leadership recommend to the left a convergence with the ‘liberal imperialism’ of the global hegemon, the USA.

Understandably, this requires some political flexibility. Progressive forces should not plant themselves on one side or the other of competing imperialist powers, says the Facebook page Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Ukraine. It demands that the “independent left” distance itself from the NATO-EU bloc, on the one hand, and from Russia on the other hand.

One year since the Greek bailout referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated

One year since the Greek Bailout Referendum: KKE's position has been fully vindicated.

By Nikos Mottas.

5/7/2016.

It's been a year since the bailout referendum was held in Greece. The whole story surrounding the referendum, as well as what followed the referendum result, consists a major episode in a series of deceptions created by the Tsipras' coalition government. The referendum's question was whether the Greek people agreed or not with the bailout conditions proposed by the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank [1]. The outcome was a triumph of the “No” vote with 61.31%, while a 38.69% of the voters choosed the “Yes” choice.

However, the referendum itself was proved a political fraud. The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government- and Prime Minister Tsipras personally- openly advocated in favor of the “No” vote. Thousands of “No” supporters gathered in mass demonstrations, while the country lived a short but intense polarised period, trapped between the “No vs Yes” dilemma. A fake and illusive dilemma, which had nothing to do with the real interests of the working masses who, once again, found themselves entrapped in bourgeois political antagonism.