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.