Contribution of the Communist Party of Styria, Austria

Dear comrades!
Dear members of the communist parties!

Imperialism is only capable of peace, as long as the Imperialism is faced with Socialism. But, how is it now with its capacity for peace, because of the fact that Socialism is present worldwide only rudimentary? Imperialism covers states, which oppose the unfettered access to their resources, with war, e.g. the Libya-conflict is the latest example.

After the Cold War the main imperialist powers had an historic opportunity to use the freed financial resources for social and cultural purposes only. In particular, the European Union sees itself as a peace covenant Kantian character and it is however named the economic centre of power of Western Imperialism, that never turns to a positive peace, which is a state of absence of the different varieties of violence (of direct, structural and cultural violence). The EU represents rather a course of a trade peace under European preponderance, i.e. the illusion of a pax oeconomica or a capitalistic peace. Even if that means the free trade must be enforced militarily by warfare. In the European foreign policy the premise prevails “Who trades with each other, does not bashes each other’s skull.”

The European understanding of this capitalist peace is as culturally and structurally violent and promotes the breeding ground for direct violence and war. Therefore, the EU’s self-perception as a competitive capitalist culture resulted in the belief that a more liberalised world and a forced democratisation of non-democracies would lead to more peace, so the EU declares its warfare as civilising missions against rogue states or the ‘axis of evil’. The unspoken goal of the EU’s warfare is the re-colonisation of former sovereign countries into now open, boundless capitalist market civilizations in favour of a globalised market. War and imperialistic globalization go hand in hand.

An integrated European Union of transnational monopoly capital is in strong competition with other imperialist trading powers. The struggle for influence in the world pyramid and for domination of the strategically important regions of the world has already begun. The Euro is an instrument for European imperialist economic and power politics. Currently, Europe participates in the re ¬

organisation of a world order. In the same extent as the contradictions between the major economic blocs are raising and the EU’s common security policy is taking shape, the differences among Europe and its competitors to its strategic issues are also relevant for Europe’s trade and foreign policies. As a result, the EU wants in addition to the NATO-option to be capable of operating militarily worldwide with own intervention forces – the so-called EU battle groups.

This European imperialist practice confirmed the Marxist theory that the aggressiveness of Imperialism develops because of its own contrariness and that the Imperialism is forced on the basis of its internal law to struggle them. In the end, an imperialistic war is always a possible way of appropriation – a question of ownership and distribution.

The Communist Party of Styria, Austria, connects her work in the national framework and in the European Union with the international struggle against Imperialism. And strictly rejects violence as a means of international politics. It sees the struggle for a positive peace and a democratic and social world, i.e. a socialist world order, as their main concerns and considers violence as preventable violation of basic human needs or, more generally, of life, that reduces the real level of need satisfaction below what is potentially possible.

It welcomes the oriental spring and with its awakening of many liberation movements. The urge for democratic self-determination of peoples is unbroken. It is generally accepted that there can be no alternative to pluralism, democracy and the right to self-determination in the long run. But, democratisation takes time, it does not happen overnight. A slow gradual modernization is more sustainable than radical breaks and cannot be imposed from outside. Any terrorism, including State terrorism has to be fight at its roots: by fair sharing and participation, economically and socially by not consuming any distinction on their ethnicity and race, through the dialogue of cultures.

The Communist Party of Styria dedicates to the anti-imperialist and pro-socialist forces on a voluntary basis, consistency and equality, without slipping into Euro-centric views and confronts the EU as a real battle field against the neoliberal globalization and war. The Communist Party of Styria works for a network of left-wing anti-imperialistic parties of Europe, excluding no one and for a break with the logic of the EU treaties. The Communist Party of Styria (as a non-founding member) claims for the withdrawal of Austria from the European Union and advocates for a new common vision of Europe, as an alternative to the Europe of the monopolies elementary present demands of the working men and women and radical democratic reforms in the national framework and in the EU that result in a closed program for a democratic process of integration which is open to all countries of the continent and may open new paths to socialism.

The Communist Party of Styria offers a reasonable basis and programmatic guidance to lead the fight for an anti-capitalist, socialist alternative successfully. The maintaining and the further refinement of socialism is strongly connected with social, environmental and political movements, the class struggles of the present and future, the spread of socialist ideology against the prevailing zeitgeist are crucial basic needs and demands of their work.

With a kind comradely freedom!
The Communist Party of Styria