Report of the Central Committee of the KKE to the 17th Congress

The Central Committee greets the presence of delegates from communist, workers' and other anti-imperialist parties to the proceedings of its 17th Congress. It also hails its Greek guests who were invited to the opening of our Congress proceedings.

We express our solidarity with the peoples of the Earth who are suffering from imperialist exploitation, war and oppression. We stand by the side of all those who suffer from poverty, unemployment, state oppression and violence, by the side of victims of the class policy on the environment. We support all those who stand up to capitalist barbarity and to imperialist war. We salute every resistance and demand movement that is against the interests of the monopolies. We are certain that today's struggles, the various forms of labour and popular protest, and the hotspots of resistance that appear from time to time, irrespective of whether they show any immediate results today, constitute a valuable school for all peoples, helping them to proceed to the great counterattack as soon as possible.

Every struggle on a national level, every effort to achieve the emancipation of a people, lends a hand to the international movement of the peoples. International activities and common mobilisations constitute an alarm signal that gives strength to the popular forces which are now at the stage of reorganisation and regrouping in their countries.

We assure you that we will become more effective and militant, particularly in the movement of solidarity with the Iraqi and Palestinian peoples, with the peoples of Cyprus and Afghanistan, with the peoples of the Balkans and Africa, and with all peoples whose resistance is being tested by the US with the leading forces of the European Union.

The main theme of the 17th Congress is to strengthen the Party from all aspects, ideologically, politically and organisationally. This is not a question of interest only to communists. It also concerns the popular movement, which is facing a new storm of reactionary reforms and restructurings, and all those who resist, who are concerned and who are seeking ways to deal with the acute problems of the Greek working people. It also concerns those who believe in the international coordination of the struggle.

The government changed, as did the official opposition, but the political line that is being followed remains basically the same. This is to be expected, since there are no programme differences between the two parties. The confrontation manifested between the two adversaries, ND and PASOK, does not in the least refute the agreement between them on the main and basic issue: How to push forward the so-called structural changes, i.e. capitalistic restructurings, at a rapid pace. The Synaspismos declares in all tones that after its congress, it "shifted" to the left. But it is judged not on what it says but on its programme positions, which move along the one-way street of Europe, the four freedoms of Maastricht and the corresponding capitalist restructurings.

The subjects that will concern us at the Congress are directly related to the new wave of anti-popular measures that the ND government is pushing forward. It is, naturally, in line with the instructions of finance capital and more generally with the demands of monopoly groups and with the instructions and directives of the EU to speed up its so-called reforms and choices, particularly the package of strategy measures that was determined in Lisbon.

There isn't a single sector, aspect or facet of the people's rights and vital needs that is not timely today: The problems of unemployment, inflation and the constant reduction of the working people's buying power, and the privatisation of education and health. Likewise, unless there is resolute popular opposition, the danger is imminent that whatever remains of the social security system, which was established after the war and after the dictatorship in Greece under pressure from the struggle of the people, will be dismantled. Education and social policy in general have become part of the planning of monopoly capital. New measures are being taken constantly on the pretext of combating unemployment. Women and young people are the particular victims and the intention is to expand flexible forms of employment and to intensify class exploitation.

Antagonisms are becoming more acute between the various factions of monopoly capital over what business group will win a greater share of the market. All the factions of monopoly capital demand more rapid reforms at the expense of the working class and other strata of the people, so as to ensure profitability and opportunities to meet the growing demands of international competition. With the imposition of new shop hours, retail workers' labour relations have been dealt a sharp new blow. The self-employed in the trade sector are seriously threatened. Owners of small and medium-sized farms, especially those with a small holding and small output, are facing a new assault aiming to concentrate agricultural production in fewer hands, and to ensure the wider prevalence of capitalist relations.

The acute financial and social problems of the working people should not distract attention – especially ours – from another group of problems that have a direct influence on developments in Greece. This is the legalisation, within the EU, of repressive operations with military forces. It is the adjustment of the justice system to a mechanism that legalises state repression, and the mushrooming of repressive machinery. A new wave has been launched of state measures for repression and coercion, and restriction of collective and individual freedoms, on the pretext of the fight against the "terrorist threat". At the EU Summit in Brussels on 16-17 December 2004, it was decided to institute a long-term strategy to deal with "extreme" convictions and the "recruitment of terrorists" since, it was declared, the two are closely linked. Moreover "before the end of 2005 the programme will have been implemented to protect infrastructures of vital importance with potential cross-border implications."

It is clear that the peoples' opposition to the so-called anti-terrorist laws embraces a broad spectrum of men and women belonging to different political parties, and has made it difficult for the EU member states to implement these laws easily against the peoples' movements, despite the opportunities provided by the statutory framework. Now they will perhaps pass new supplementary measures to free their hands in view of the assessment that the class struggle will be stepped up.

Integrally linked with this assessment is the problem created in the Aegean. Through promotion of a new structure for NATO and changes of headquarters, sovereign rights in the realm of defence have been ceded to the Atlantic Alliance and Turkey. Turkey's dispute of some of our frontiers, even islands and islets, is supported and promoted by the US and the EU. Their constant violations of our air space and demands in the Aegean should not be addressed as an ordinary issue of minor significance, but against the background of developments in the region, and of intra-imperialist conflicts, all of which look as though they will become sharper in the coming period. The struggle for sovereign rights in the Aegean, for the territorial integrity of our country, is integrally linked with the fight against the imperialist plans in the region. It is a fight against war and in favour of peace.

The KKE has openly informed the people about the danger represented by the official change of the mission of the Greek Armed Forces. Their main mission which, based on the Constitution, is to protect the country's territorial integrity and legal rights, is being downgraded by participation in action beyond the frontiers within the framework of the so-called peace-keeping missions undertaken by NATO and the EU that serve imperialist interventions and war. The governments of PASOK and ND, on the pretext of security during the Olympic Games, assigned policing tasks to units of the Armed Forces after the games. A climate is being created and preparations are being made for the Armed Forces, on the pretext of the fight against "terrorism", to be used for domestic repression of the movement. To serve this goal, a "professional army" of mercenaries is being created that will fight for the interests of the plutocracy and the imperialists.

It is obvious that that the working people have just one choice: To develop their struggles, to build the Anti-imperialist Anti-monopoly Democratic Front, and to strengthen the KKE. It is not enough to talk generally about struggles. It is important to determine what demands and goals are to be put forward. It is important for the working people to fight for satisfaction of demands that reflect their needs. It is important for struggles to be coordinated. The working class must oppose the overall offensive by capital on all fronts through unity of action, through its alliance with all the strata of the people, through the united counteroffensive on all fronts. It is important for the working people to fight to have their demands met and for the political conditions to be created that will ensure such a development.