Greek communists held protest rallies against the war in Ukraine

The Communist Party of Greece held a series of anti-war rallies against the war in Ukraine, and also signed appeal to end the “imperialist war in Ukraine”.

Thousands of demonstrators in Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities of Greece responded to the call of the Communist Party of Greece and the Communist Youth of Greece, and raised their voice against the imperialist war, says in a press release from the KKE.

In the Greek capital, thousands of protesters flooded the streets near the Russian embassy in Athens, condemning the unacceptable Russian military intervention and the invasion of Ukraine, which marked the formal start of a war that had been in preparation for many years. In this war, two imperialist camps collide: on the one hand, the United States – NATO – EU, and on the other hand, Russia, in competition for the division of capital profits, for the division of markets and territories. The protesters then marched to the US embassy in Athens, denouncing the role of US imperialism in the developments.

The Greek communists, by their participation in anti-war/anti-imperialist mass demonstrations, have shown that it is in the interests of the Greek people and peoples in general to rise up to fight against the war, and not to choose one or another imperialist camp.

In addition, they condemned the fact that Greece has become not only a huge NATO military base for encircling Russia, but also a magnet for retaliatory strikes, as she admitted, and the responsibility for this lies with the governments of ND, SYRIZA, KINAL. They demanded the closure of US-NATO military bases, the end of Greece’s participation in the war, the withdrawal of the country from imperialist plans and alliances, so that the people would become the masters of their country.

They also denounced the huge NATO military spending that the people have to pay for, as well as the rising prices for fuel and, in general, for electricity and consumer goods, which stifle the popular strata.

General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece Dimitris Koutsoumbas took part in a mass rally in Athens and made the following statement to the media: “The choice of this or that imperialist center or union is a choice that leads the Greek and other peoples to a bloody slaughter. Only an independent political strategy against the bourgeois and imperialist plans is the way out for the working people and the people. We say “No” to imperialist war! Greece must immediately stop participating in these processes. Close the bases of death immediately.”

In Thessaloniki, first a rally was held at the Russian consulate, and then at the US consulate.

An independent struggle is needed against the monopolies and the bourgeoisie, for the overthrow of capitalism, for the intensification of the class struggle against the imperialist war, for socialism!

The Communist and Workers’ Parties signing this joint statement oppose the imperialist conflict in Ukraine, which is one of the consequences of the tragic situation in which the peoples found themselves after the overthrow of socialism and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both bourgeois and opportunist forces found themselves in an awkward position, which for many years fought against the USSR, and recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its collapse, hushing up the fact that the restoration of capitalism marked the abolition of the historical gains of the working people and the return of the peoples of the USSR to era of class exploitation and imperialist wars. The events in Ukraine, taking place on the basis of monopoly capitalism, are connected with the plans of the USA, NATO, the EU, their intervention in the region in the conditions of fierce competition between these forces and capitalist Russia in the struggle for control over the markets, raw materials and transport networks of the country. The clashing imperialist powers conceal these aspirations under various pretexts such as “defending democracy”, “self-defence” and the right to “choose alliances”, respecting the principles of the UN or the OSCE, or allegedly under the pretext of “anti-fascism”, deliberately tearing fascism away from the capitalist system, generating and using it for their own purposes. We condemn the activities of fascist, nationalist forces in Ukraine, anti-communism and the persecution of communists, discrimination against the Russian-speaking population, the military operation of the Ukrainian government against the people of Donbass. We condemn the fact that the Euro-Atlantic forces are using the reactionary political forces of Ukraine and even fascist formations to carry out their plans. At the same time, the anti-communist rhetoric against Lenin, the Bolsheviks and the Soviet Union, which the Russian leadership uses to justify its strategic plans in the region, is unacceptable. However, nothing can tarnish the enormous contribution of socialism in the Soviet Union, which was a multinational union of equal socialist republics. The decision of the Russian Federation to first recognize the “independence” of the so-called “People’s Republics” in the Donbass, and then conduct a Russian military operation under the pretext of Russia’s “self-defense”, as well as the “demilitarization” and “defashization” of Ukraine, was not taken to protect the people of the region and the world, and to promote the interests of Russian monopolies on the territory of Ukraine in their fierce competition with Western monopolies. We express our solidarity with the communists and the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, and support them in strengthening the front against the nationalism cultivated by every bourgeoisie. The peoples of the two countries, who lived peacefully and did great things together within the USSR, like all other peoples, are not interested in taking the side of this or that imperialist, this or that alliance serving the interests of the monopolies. We note that the illusions that bourgeois forces sow that Europe could have a different “better security architecture” with EU intervention, or that NATO could be “without military plans and offensive weapons systems on the territory of its member countries” are dangerous. ”, or “peace-loving EU” or “multipolar world”, etc. All these conjectures have nothing to do with reality and are aimed at disorienting the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist struggle, since their goal is to cultivate the notion of the supposedly possible existence of “peaceful imperialism.” However, the truth is that NATO and the EU, like any capitalist interstate union, these are wolf unions that are deeply reactionary in nature, they cannot become pro-people, they will continue to act against the rights of workers and peoples, just like capitalism, which is inextricably linked with imperialist wars. We call on the peoples of those countries whose governments, in particular, through NATO and the EU, are involved in the course of events, as well as the people of Russia to fight the propaganda of bourgeois forces that are pushing peoples into the meat grinder of imperialist war under various pseudo-pretexts. Demand the closure of military bases, the return of armed forces located abroad, the intensification of the struggle for the withdrawal of countries from imperialist plans and alliances such as NATO and the EU. It is in the interests of the working class and popular strata to approach the analysis of events on the basis of class criteria, to outline their own path of struggle against the monopolies, the bourgeoisie, for the overthrow of capitalism, the intensification of the class struggle against the imperialist war, for socialism, which remains relevant and necessary more than ever.

The Communist and Workers’ Parties signed the Joint Declaration:

Algerian Party for Democracy and Socialism
Communist Party of Azerbaijan
Labor Party of Austria
Communist Party of Bangladesh
Communist Party of Belgium
Movement “Che Guevara” (Union of Communists of Bulgaria)
Communist Party in Denmark
Communist Party of El Salvador
Communist Party of Finland
Communist Revolutionary Party of France (PCRP)
Communist Party of Greece
Communist Party of Kurdistan-Iraq
Labor Party of Ireland
Communist Front (Italy)
Socialist movement of Kazakhstan
Socialist Party of Latvia
Communist Party of Malta
Communist Party of Mexico
New Communist Party of the Netherlands
Communist Party of Norway
Palestinian Communist Party
Communist Party of Pakistan
Communist Party of Paraguay
Peruvian Communist Party
Communist Party of the Philippines [PKP 1930]
Communist Party of Poland
Romanian Socialist Party
Communist Party of South Africa
Communist Workers’ Party of Spain
Communist Party of Sudan
Communist Party of Swaziland
Communist Party of Sweden
Communist Party of Switzerland
Syrian Communist Party
Communist Party of Turkey
Union of Communists of Ukraine

Communist Youth Organizations Sign Joint Statement

Youth section of the Austrian Labor Party
Young Communists of Belgium
Communist Youth Union, Czech Republic
Communist Youth of Denmark
Communist Youth of the Communist Workers’ Party, Finland
Union of Communist Youth, France
Communist Youth of Greece
Communist Youth of Guatemala
Labor Party Youth, Ireland
Communist Youth Front, Italy
Communist Youth Front, Mexico
Communist Youth Movement, Netherlands
Democratic Federation of Students, Pakistan
Democratic Youth Front, Pakistan
Union of Socialist Youth, Romania
Revolutionary Communist Union of Youth (Bolsheviks), Russia
Collectives of Young Communists, Spain
Socialist Youth Union, Sri Lanka
Communist Youth of Sweden
Leninist Communist Youth Union of Tajikistan
Communist Youth of Turkey
League of Young Communists USA

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