Contribution to the Lisbon meeting on the 60 years after the vctory over the fascism

"60 Years After Victory Over Nazi-Fascism,
Present Realities And The Struggle of Communists And Other Progressive Forces"

Lisbon, September 2, 2005

Dear comrades

We thank the Portuguese comrades for organizing this meeting and on this occasion we would like to express our solidarity and grief for the losses in human lives and the uncountable destructions as a result of the incendiaries that hit again Portugal.

We would like to use this opportunity to pay tribute to comrade Álvaro Cunhal, prominent figure of the communist movement who has been identified with the struggle of the Portuguese people against fascism.

Dear comrades

Following the victory of the counter-revolution in the former socialist countries, a systematic effort began by the reactionary anticommunist forces, in order to revise history. This became especially evident on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the victory of the people. The fact is that monopoly capital never accepted the results of WWII. It is the duty of the communists, of all progressive people that respect truth, to refute the falsification of history, the slanderous attempt to equate communism with fascism, Stalin with Hitler.

This offensive serves multiple objectives: to cloak the fundamental anti-socialist, anti-communist character of WWII as well as the fact that the basic driving force of this titanic struggle, its soul and leading force were the Communist Parties, with the decisive contribution of the first socialist state in history; to poison the consciousness of the youth; to justify the today's crimes of the imperialist order; to manipulate the popular movements that are emerging.

In ex-socialist countries of Europe we witness restoration of the symbols of Hitlerism, prosecutions and persecutions against the communists. The liberation from the Red Army is called "occupation". Fascists are being reinstated and receive rewards as "National Heroes". The political forces that incited or tolerated the rise of anti-communism in Europe bear tremendous responsibilities for the resurgence of neo-fascist forces.

EU plays a major role in this campaign and the European Parliament adopted a repugnant resolution on the occasion of the 60th anniversary, which our Party opposed and endorsed the motion of 16 MEPs protesting it, denouncing the fabrication and falsification of history.

The criticism of the first socialist experience by the "European Left Party" falls in line with the mainstream of the dominant ideology and the anti-communist offensive; it contributes to the blackening of the socialist vision and not to its revival. The EL refutes the theory of scientific socialism, communist traditions and the experience of the socialist revolutions in the 20th century. It chooses the dangerous and dead-end road of the abandonment of a communist identity and incorporation into the EU structures.

Particularly provocative has been the recent act of the German authorities to label as "extremist" the International Federation of Resistance Fighters (FIR) and to include it in the list of "enemies of the constitution".

The developments in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are even more serious and dangerous. The decision of its Political Commission to file a report "On the Need for International Condemnation of Communism" to be presented at the regular PACE session in October of this year constitutes an overall attempt to incriminate the communist movement and the communist ideas.

By falsifying history the ruling classes do not just pursuit to whiten imperialism and fascism. They also try to deal with hopeful signs of popular awakening. The legitimacy of EU wanes in the eyes of the people. The recent referenda were a strong refutation of the voices that were advocating that people "should accept the EU as a reality". In spite of the counter-revolution and the setback of the revolutionary movement the spectre of Communism is still haunting Europe. Millions of people, both in east and west, refer to the socialism we have known. Some call it "nostalgia", others "flight forward". The fact is that the issue of the alternative lays on the table, something quite troublesome for the rulling classes.

As the imperialists fail to subjugate the peoples' movements and resistance, they now move towards expanding the so-called "war on terror" into a war "against the extremists and violent extremism". At the same time the dominant forces demand that the popular movements "repudiate violence" meaning to give up any perspective for radical changes.

This explains why parties of the European socialdemocracy do not tolerate any more in their programs even the fake reference to the "democratic socialism", why realignment of forces are underway along with reactionary changes in the political systems, as well as the anxiety to give EU a facelift advocating a "new social contract" or "new social consensus" can turn it into a supposedly "social Europe".

KKE puts forward before the Greek people a comprehensive framework for struggle which responds to the offensive of the capital, which meats the current possibilities created by the development of the productive forces and lays foundations for overall demands regarding the people's income, and exclusively public and free healthcare and education. It calls on the popular strata to come to the forefront to blaze a different path of development of Greek society, a path in which the basic means of production will belong to the people, central nationwide planning for economic life will be set up and worker's control will be established so that the popular needs will be met sufficiently.

The lessons drawn from the anti-fascist victory are vital for the revolutionary struggle. The end of the war brought about a wave of socialist transformations. However in western Europe, including Greece, communists did not manage to elaborate a strategy to transform the struggle for liberation to struggle for the power.

It was affirmed that socialism is the only alternative to capitalist barbarity, that there is no intermediate or third way, that the working class is the only social force that can lead the struggle for social emancipation. The developments underline the indispensable necessity and importance of parties armed with the revolutionary theory of Marxism-Leninism and a program for the socialist transformation. It is not by chance that the communist identity and the independent role of the CPs have always been in the center of the ideological struggle.

It was shown that although national and historical characteristics peculiar to a specific country need to be taken into account in the development of political strategies, in themselves do not negate the general laws of class struggle and socialist revolution. Over the years various opportunist positions have been justified on the basis of "national peculiarities", such as so-called Eurocommunism (whose line was in fact the same in every country!). The new current of opportunism in the post-war period was not confined to the movement in capitalist Europe but also created pressures which influenced the construction of Socialism.

In those conditions the communist movement in Europe did mot manage to elaborate a united strategy. In addition it overestimated the forces for Socialism in Europe and the possibilities afforded by parliamentary action. Exceptionally weak was the ideological front against Social Democracy. In this way the Social Democratic and neo-opportunistic forces were able to undermine socialist construction and the revolutionary struggle in western Europe.

It is not possible for the inter-imperialist contradictions to disappear. The struggle for loot between the USA and the EU is intensifying, as well as the contradictions between the leading forces within the EU and between regional powers. The situation in the Balkans and the wider eastern Mediterranean has the possibility to become explosive, meanwhile the fierce inter-imperialist rivalries today underline the danger that humanity could be cast again into a generalized world war.

The policy of "Divide and Rule" is being used again as a tactic of imperialism. This was apparent in the preparation for the war against Yugoslavia, by the cultivation and use of nationalism, racism, and religious fanaticism. There is no answer other than the line of proletarian internationalism, anti-imperialist solidarity, the international unity of the working class, and the rallying of the popular strata.

Taking into account the developments, the new dynamics in the anti-imperialist struggle as well as the need to step up the popular opposition to EU, KKE jointly with the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) convene an international conference in Istanbul on October 1st, in the eve of the EU Summit scheduled for October 3 when accession negotiations with Turkey are expected to be initiated.

Our Party will host in Athens, on 18-20 of November, the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties of 2005 with subject "Current trends in capitalism: economic, social and political impact. The communists' alternative", as it was concluded last June in the meeting of the working group.

Our Party, with full respect to the independence and sovereignty of each Party, believes in the close cooperation of CPs: it will have positive impact on the common action of broader anti-imperialist forces, it will assist popular forces to emancipate themselves from the influence of the dominant ideology and policy.