Klostermarienberg 1945 — 75 years since the liberation of Austria by the Red Army

Joint declaration of the Party of Labour of Austria (PdA) and the Communist Youth Eisenstadt/Burgenland, 29 March 2020:

Exactly 75 years ago, on 29 March 1945 at 11.05 a.m., the first units of the Red Army of the USSR entered Austrian soil. This date therefore represents an important step in the liberation of Austria from fascist dictatorship and German foreign rule. 

Mobile motorized units of the Soviet 6th Guard Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front (led by Colonel General Andrei Kravchenko) crossed the border between Hungary and the province of Burgenland near Klostermarienberg (municipality of Mannersdorf an der Rabnitz), which at that time marked the German Reich border. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas: “EU solidarity is a joke, capitalism itself has bankrupted”

With an article published in the weekend edition of the KKE’s newspaper “Rizospastis”, General Secretary Dimitris Koutsoumbas refers to the COVID-19 situation and the political consequences of the current pandemic.  

Under the title “The end of myths and illussions”, the article draws important conclusions about healthcare in capitalism, highlighting the fact that the pandemic shows the limitations of the capitalist system itself. 

Greek Left's veteran Manolis Glezos dies at 98

Manolis Glezos, a resistance fighter during the Nazi occupation of Greece in the Second World War and a prominent figure of Greek left-wing politics, has died in Athens at the age of 98. 

Manolis Glezos acquired fame when, alongside his friend Apostolos Santas, climbed on the Acropolis on May 30, 1941 and tore down the Nazi swastika flag. This action became an inspiration for the people who were fighting against occupation, while Glezos and Santas were established as international anti-Nazi heroes. 

Capitalism Fails: 75% of Russians say Soviet era was the 'greatest time' in country’s history

Three out of four Russians (75%) think that the Soviet period was the best time in their country’s history, according to a survey published by the independent Levada Center pollster on Tuesday 24 March.

Thirty years since the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union and East Europe and despite the continuous anti-communist, anti-soviet propaganda by the bourgeois mechanisms, Russians express increasingly positive opinions about the USSR and Joseph Stalin. 

Fidel Castro: "Doctors, not bombs"

During this difficult situation of COVID-19 pandemic, with Cuba being once again a champion of internationalist solidarity, we remember the words of an extraordinary revolutionary, an exemplary communist, leader and man, Comandante Fidel Castro Ruz. 

Excerpts from Fidel’s 2003 speech given at the Law School of the University of Buenos Aires: 

"Since I am an optimist, I think this world can be saved, in spite of the mistakes made, in spite of the immense, hegemonic powers that have been created, because I believe ideas prevail over force...

Condemn U.S. arrogant and criminal policy against Venezuela amidst Covid-19 pandemic

While the world is facing COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government intensifies its arrogant and criminal policy against the people of Venezuela. Except from the extention of economic sanctions imposed against Venezuela, the U.S. State Department announced indictments against President Nicolas Maduro and other Venezuelan officials, whom the Trump administration accuses of having ties to international drug trafficking networks.

Covid-19: Joint Statement by Communist and Workers' Parties demand immediate measures to protect the health and rights of the people

In their Joint Statement, 81 Communist and Workers' Parties from all over the world take a position on the global situation created by the pandemic of the novel coronavirus. 

In the Joint Statement, initiated by the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), the CPs express their support to both doctors and nurses as well as those suffering from the disease and denounce the huge shortages in the public health sector which result from the anti-popular policy followed by the governments in the service of the capital, commercializing and privatizing health to support the profitability of the monopoly groups. 

#ScioperaPerMe: Workers in Italy go on strike demanding more protection measures due to Covid-19 pandemic

Thousands of workers participated in the General Strike initiated by the Italian trade Union USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) on Wednesday 25 March. Throughout Italy, from Trieste to Taranto, all non-essential production stopped, sending a symbolic but militant message to the government about the workers’ rights and demands. 

The strike comes as a response to the criminal policy of the government and big employers that denied the suspension of unecessary activity in industries and businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak, thus endangering millions of lives, including those of the workers. 

Communist MEPs call the EU to take immediate protection measures in face of Covid-19

According to a report published on 902 portal, Communist Party of Greece (ΚΚΕ) MEPs Kostas Papadakis and Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos sent a letter to the presidents of the European Council, EU Commission and EU Parliament, demanding immediate measures of prevention and protection by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In their letter addressed to Mr Charles Michel, Mrs Ursula Von Der Leyen and Mr David Maria Sassoli, the KKE eurodeputies point out the great difficulties that doctors and medical staff face in their fight against COVID-19 outbreak. 

Covid-19 in the USA: Statements by Communist and Left parties demanding Free Healthcare

The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, the most powerful economy in the world,  has already showed the disastrous results of capitalist development in people's healthcare. 

According to the latest data, there are more than 50,000 confirmed cases and 655 deaths throughout the country as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.  

Below you can read the view of U.S. Communist and Left parties on the Covid-19 pandemic, their critique towards capitalist establishment and the Trump administration, as well as their demands including public and free healthcare. 

21 years since NATO's crime against Yugoslavia - We shall never forget!

Today, March 24th, marks the 21st anniversary since the beginning of Yugoslavia's bombing by NATO forces. On this day, twenty-one years ago, the sirens of war and destruction sounded in Belgrade, Pristina, Novi Sad and other cities, marking the beginning of a massacre that lasted 78 days. 

The following article was written and published last year, on the occasion of the twenty-years since the imperialist crime against the people of Yugoslavia.

Marco Rizzo: "Covid-19 killed EU and capitalism. The only solution is socialism"

Interviewed by affaritaliani.it, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party, Italy (Partito Comunista) Marco Rizzo analyzed the actual reasons behind the dramatic situation that exists in Italy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The dramatic health situation that Italy is experiencing these days shows clearly how in the last 30 years, since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disappearance of the Soviet Union, the entire welfare state and public healthcare of our country has been dismantled”, points out Rizzo. 

Covid-19 in Greece: KKE on the forefront of the struggle for the protection of workers-people’s health

"The KKE is by your side. No fear, no one alone! Together
we will get through it", reads a Party poster (left).

“We stay strong” is the message of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) which has launched powerful initiatives demanding immediate measures for the protection of the working people’s health in face of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“We stay militant in support of the workers-people’s rights! By the side of doctors and nurses, in their efforts to respond to the “war” but also in their demands for adequate and proper weapons in this war”, writes a post on 902 portal. 

Poland: The legal struggle of the Communist Party continues, as Court imposes fine

The legal struggle of the Communist Party of Poland and its newspaper "Brzask" continues, with a new verdict issued by the a District Court imposing a fine. 

Here is a statement by the Party's President Krzysztof Szwej:

On March 17, the new verdict was announced regarding the long trial of the editors of "Brzask", the newspaper of the Communist Party of Poland and its website accused of promoting a totalitarian state system.

Refugee Crisis: Militant intervention by Greek communists in the developments

The following article provides a thorough outline of the position and initiatives of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) regarding the ongoing refugee situation in the borders between Greece and Turkey and the Greek islands: 

Militant intervention by the communists in the developments concerning the Refugee question

By Nikos Sofianos*

Cuba triumphs where capitalism has failed

By Nikos Mottas.

Speaking to medical students in Havana, on 19 August 1960, communist revolutionary, guerrilla fighter and doctor Ernesto Che Guevara was pointing out: 

"The work that today is entrusted to the Ministry of Health and similar organizations is to provide public health services for the greatest possible number of persons, institute a program of preventive medicine, and orient the public to the performance of hygienic practices [...] Some day, therefore, medicine will have to convert itself into a science that serves to prevent disease and orients the public toward carrying out its medical duties [....] The doctor, the medical worker, must go to the core of his new work, which is the man within the mass, the man within the collectivity" [1].

European Communist Initiative: Statement on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

On the situation of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Secretariat of the Initiative of  European Communist and Workers' Parties issued the following statement:

The coronavirus epidemic reveals the heightened problems and the inadequacies of the health systems in our countries that are in any case insufficient to meet people’s needs, even more so today with the coronavirus spreading.

British Communist Youth blasts Boris Johnson's government for "criminal response" to COVID-19

The Young Communist League of Britain has issued the following statement on the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis unfolding and the criminal failure of Boris Johnson’s Tory government to protect working people in Britain.

The rapid spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) from Wuhan in China to all corners of the planet has now been classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (“WHO”). As well as directly affecting the hundreds of thousands who have contracted the virus, it has led to worry and fear for billions of working people everywhere.

Coronavirus: Communist and Workers' Parties across the world address the #Covid19 situation

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) issue, numerous Communist and Workers' Parties across the world have issued statements regarding the epidemic, urging governments to take the needed measures in order to protect public health and to ensure the health and rights of the working people.

In previous articles, you can read the statements by the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and the Common Position of European Trade Unions.

The post is under constant update

Coronavirus: Workers’ lives and health cannot be put under the criterion of profit

Common Position Of European Trade Unions On The Developments Because Of The Coronavirus

We Fight To Protect The Health And Lives Of Workers

The unions that we sign this text we salute the heroic contribution of workers, scientists in Healthcare, hospitals, sanitation and a series of other services who under, even life-threatening conditions, exhaustion, under-staffed and unprepared prevention systems, fight for the protection of the lives of the workers, of all the people.

"Never look again with contempt at people who are fleeing war and famine"

The message below was written by a 20-year old boy on his profile. His name is Dejan Kulusevski and he is a proffesional football player, currently playing for Italian Serie A club Parma on a loan from Juventus FC. 

"To those who now have twenty-eight packets of pasta. To those who are looking for hand sanitizer in the black market. To those who walk on the street with a mask. And to those who are planning to flee with their children to areas not infected with Coronavirus: Never look again with contempt at people who are fleeing war and famine."

Communist Parties of Sweden, Norway and Finland launch the Nordic Communist Review

At a gathering in Stockholm, the Communist Party of Sweden (SKP), the Communist Party of Norway (NKP) and the Communist Workers' Party of Finland (KTP) decided to launch the "Nordic Communist Review" (Nordisk Kommunistisk Revy), a common biannual online publication.

The review is primarily aimed at cadre and interested sympathizers and its first edition takes a glance on what socialism will look like, and is currently freely accessible on the web.

Check it out here: norcomr.org.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC REVEALS THE REAL FACE OF CAPITALISM

By Nikos Mottas.

As of this writing, there are 140,214 Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases worldwide while the number of deaths mount to 5,123. China remains at the top of the countries with the most confirmed cases and casualties, while the epidemic situation seems to be particularly intense in Italy, Iran, South Korea and Spain. 

The outbreak of Coronavirus has sparked huge uncertainty in global markets, while financial analysts are already predicting a new international economic recession. Last week, the OECD lowered its forecast for 2020 GDP growth from 2,9% to 2,4%, while the IMF warned that the disease’s spread has already pushed global growth in 2020 to below last year’s levels. The rapid outbreak of Coronavirus in Europe has pushed the eurozone’s wobbly economy toward recession, boosting fears about a severe slowdown in EU’s economic growth. 

Coronavirus Pandemic: NATO's military exercise "Defender 2020" puts Europe at high risk

Despite the fact that the World Health Organization have declared the Coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, NATO seems determined to proceed with its “Defender 2020” military exercise in Europe. 

According to recent reports, the United States military is planning to reduce the number of U.S. participants and adjust its imperialist showcase exercise over Coronavirus concerns. 

Coronavirus Pandemic — No worker must lose his job — Statement by the WFTU

The World Federation of Trade Unions, on behalf of its 100 million members all over the world, expresses its support to the workers around the globe, who are facing consequences on their health and risk on their working rights, because of the Coronavirus outbreak which now records a large number of cases and deaths.

We urge the governments to immediately  take all necessary measures to ensure life and health of workers, as well as the protection of their labor rights.

Solidarity with Grup Yorum band members — Turkish state's authoritarianism shall not pass!

Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek have been on hunger strike
for more than 260 days.

In the early morning of Wednesday 11 March, the house of death fasting Grup Yorum band members Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek in Istanbul, Turkey was raided by police forces. Gökçek, Bölek and three other people were violently detained.

Ibrahim and Helin, who have been on death fast for more than 260 days, were taken without their consent to Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital for enforced medical treatment. 

According to the People’s Law Bureau any involuntary intervention on death fasters consists torture and could cause permanent damage on their bodies, including death.

Greece must not become EU's refugee prison, says KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis

Communist Party (KKE) eurodeputy Kostas Papadakis.

The immense responsibilities of the European Union and NATO in the creation and perpetuation of the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders, as well as the need for the abolition of EU's Dublin Regulation and the EU-Turkey migrant deal, were highlighted by Kostas Papadakis, MEP for the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), during his intervention at the EU Parliament’s plenary in Brussels. 

More specifically Papadakis pointed out the following:

Coronavirus in Greece: The government must take protection measures for all workers

Addressing the issue of public health due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), PAME and Workers’ Unions have urged the government to take immediate measures of protection. 

In a statement today the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas said that, additionally to the advise provided by the National Organization of Public Health (EODY), the government must take measures which will ensure the protection of public health and the workers’ rights. 

Dimitris Koutsoumbas on refugee crisis: "Dublin Regulation, EU-Turkey deal must be abolished"

The General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas gave an interview to “Real News” newspaper where, among other things, he refered to the ongoing refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders. Below you can read the excerpts of his answers:

“There is no greatest depravity than using uprooted, tortured people for your own aspirations, like Erdogan does, who blackmails for more support by the EU and NATO for his intervention in Northern Syria as well as in his other plans. For that reason, the needed protection of the borders can neither target the refugees nor acquitting EU and NATO which uproot people and have led to the entrapment of thousands of refugees in the Aegean islands and in Evros, thus playing Erdogan’s game. And certainly it cannot be utilized for the emboldenment of reactionary, racist voices”.

International Women Day, a symbol of struggle — WFTU Declaration

On the occasion of this year’s March 8th anniversary, the World Federation of Trade Union (WFTU) addresses a warm militant greeting to every woman all over the globe, working or unemployed, self-employed, in the city or in the countryside, young mother, student, retiree, refugee or immigrant, life fighters of the everyday.

We all, stand on the side of the women who struggle with the WFTU and the international class-oriented movement, and strongly believe in the necessity of the organization of the women’s fight for real equality and do not limit our militancy and struggles just in one day a year.

Vladimir Lenin's statue will be erected in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen

For the first time a statue of Vladimir Iliych Lenin will be installed in a western German city. After a long-standing battle between the local authorities of Gelsenkirchen and the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), a court decided to permit the erection of the statue.

Gelsenkirchen, a city located in the centre of the Ruhr valley, once the most important coal mining town in Europe, will be the first western German city with a statue of the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and founder of the Soviet Union. 

German Communist Party's 23rd Congress held in Frankfurt: Köbele re-elected as chairman

Photo: Tom Brenner / Unsere Zeit.

From February 28 to March 1, 2020, the 23rd party conference of the German Communist Party (DKP) took place in Frankfurt/Main. 

Over 200 delegates welcomed more than 20 international guests and embassy representatives from Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam. Robert Griffiths, Chairman of the CP of Britain, Zisis Liberidis of the CP of Greece, and Ramón Ripoll Díaz, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, addressed the Congress. From Germany, representatives of the peace movement, the East German board of trustees of associations, and the party “Die Linke” addressed the delegates.

Greek workers' movement stands in solidarity with refugees — Statement by PAME

In face of the latest developments with the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders and the Aegean islands, the vanguard of Greece's class-oriented labour movement, the All-Workers Militant Front (PAME), issued the following statement:

The trapping of thousands of refugees and immigrants in the Aegean islands and the Greek-Turkish border in Evros, in the most dramatic way, highlights the barbarism of imperialist organizations, the EU and NATO and the active involvement of all Greek governments in these organizations.

Israel Election: Left-wing Israeli-Arab "Joint List" alliance achieves historic success

Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh (Hadash) declared yesterday (Tuesday, March 3) that the alliance of Hadash, Balad, Ta’al and Ra’am had realized a “huge achievement” in Monday’s Israeli general elections for the Knesset after nearly-final results suggested it won 15 seats in the 120-seat parliament. 

As the Communist Party of Israel reports, the election results showed that more than 530,000 voter, Arabs and Jews, cast their ballots for the Joint List.

Statement of the Political Bureau of the KKE on the refugee crisis in Greek-Turkish borders

On March 3, 2020, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement regarding the refugee situation in the Greek-Turkish borders and the measures announced by the government. You can read previous statements by the KKE about the issue here and here. 

The statement is the following:

The latest developments, with the entrapment of thousands of refugees and immigrants on the Aegean islands and at the Greek-Turkish border in Evros, confirm once again that the EU and NATO policy that the Greek governments have followed and are fervently adhering to now is, on the one hand, responsible for the dissolution of countries and the uprooting of peoples and on the other,  for the entrapment of uprooted peoples on islands and at borders. This policy has paved the way for Erdogan to try to impose his own objectives, using the refugee situation as a vehicle.

Hands Off the Communists of Poland: Protests across the world against persecutions in Poland

Protest at the Embassy of Poland in Athens. Source: 902.gr

With a protest at the Embassy of Poland in Athens, members of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and its youth wing KNE expressed their solidarity to the persecuted cadres of the Communist Party of Poland (KPP) and the editors of “Brzask” newspaper. 

With a banner reading “Hands Off The Communists Of Poland”, the KKE-KNE members gathered outside the Embassy, demanding the ending of the persecutions that the Polish authorities have unleashed against the country’s communists. KKE MEP Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos and Paschalis Kagiannis, member of the CC of KNE, met with the Embassy’s minister councillor Jolanta Wójcik-Niedzielska handing over to her a note of protest. 

Italy's Communist Party increases its power in Rome by-elections

Communist Party leader Marco Rizzo gained the 4th place in the supplementary elections that took place on Sunday in Rome’s Lazio 1 constituency. 

Rizzo received 2.62% of the votes, which is seven times higher than the percentage in the 2018 elections (0.37%), thus marking a successful electoral performance for the Communist Party (Partito Comunista), given the existing correlation of forces.

A message, written in Italian, at the Communist Party's official website reads: 

KKE slams Greek government: "Demonstrate your strength to EU and NATO, not to refugees"

Greek riot police forces behind the fences at Kastanies
border crossing, 29 February 2020 EPA/EFE.

After a meeting on Sunday chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Greece’s Government Council on National Security (KYSEA) decided to step up the level of deterrence to the maximum point at the Greek-Turkish borders in Evros. 

The conservative ND government also decided to suspend new asylum applications, while the presence of army units and police forces across Kastanies border gates has been strengthened. Additionally, Athens has requested from EU border agency FRONTEX to provide additional aid in the protection of the borders.

Interview of the General Secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas in "New Worker"

On January 10th-12th, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumbas visited London where he participated in various events, including visits to the Marx Memorial Library, Tate Modern, the British Museum and Karl Marx's tomb at Highgate Cemetery. He was also the major speaker in a political event regarding Science, Research and Technology organized by the KKE at the University of London. 

During his stay in London, the KKE General Secretary talked to Theo Russell, editor of the New Worker, the weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain, about the current situation in Greece: