Intervention of Vera Polycarpou, member of the Central Committee and International and European Affairs Bureau of AKEL
“Europe 100 years after the 1st World War. Capitalism: crisis, fascism, war. The struggle of the Communist and Workers’ parties for a Europe of socialism, peace, social justice”
Brussels, 2nd October 2014
On behalf of AKEL permit me firstly to thank KKE, for its initiative to organise this discussion on such a topical issue. One hundred years after the First World War humanity is still confronted with grave dangers, not excluding also the use of nuclear weapons, something which we feel particularly in the Middle East. The big powers have not drawn lessons. The war industries and international monopolies are fully satisfied with the outbreak of constant peripheral and regional conflicts, but the suffering of the peoples is on-going and indeed growing.
Today’s meeting is taking place in the aftermath of the NATO Summit meeting held recently in Wales, which took important decisions that demonstrate a further escalation of aggression against Russia, the building up of the NATO Alliance’s war machine and the strengthening of its presence in Eastern Europe, whilst details are being finalised on the perpetuation of NATO’s presence in Afghanistan, where the continuing presence of American troops has already been agreed. Greater significance is attached to NATO partnership programmes with other states within the framework of its, in effect by now, global activity as set out in the New Strategic Concept of NATO for the decade.
These decisions illustrate the system’s inherent need, through military interventions, wars and competition to share the profits of the spoils it will gain amongst its combatants and warriors, each according to their strength. This represents another danger to world peace and security.
AKEL opposes the Cyprus government’s policy for Cyprus’ accession to NATO Programmes, indeed to NATO itself. This policy is short-sighted; a policy which considers that by pursuing this policy it will manage to gain the favour of the countries supporting this war machine. Of course the opposite is true. It deprives Cyprus of any possibility of exercising sovereignty and drives our country to serve the interests of big powers, whilst it makes our homeland complicit to numerous interventions that violate International Law when Cyprus is itself a victim of the violation of International Law; when International Law constitutes a bastion of the struggle of the Cypriot people for the termination of the Turkish occupation, for the reunification of our country and people. This year 40 years have elapsed since the Turkish invasion and occupation of Cyprus.
What is the reality of the current international situation? Imperialism is struggling through military and economic means to control resources particularly within the framework of the international capitalist crisis. It wants to control resources through governments that accept its interests and to create a friendly environment in these countries for their economic and military interests. The imperialist forces are united aiming towards the fulfilment of their goals. This is what is happening with the on-going coordinated attack taking place in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in Latin America under the guidance of the USA. At the same time the inter-imperialist competition as to who takes what in the sharing of the spoils is continuing, for example, in Mali, the Central African Republic etc. where one or the other state takes the lead in waging military interventions.
With the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union is playing, under with the leading role of the USA, an ever increasing role in the military interventions and supporting NATO and the USA strategy. The EU is also drawing up an enormous agreement on free trade with the USA, aiming to increase profits for the monopolies to the detriment of working people’s interests and small businesses. Systemic organizations such as the IMF and the World Bank are acting as the vehicles for the capitalist exploitation in order to enhance neoliberalism and neo-colonialism, namely through the imposition of the Troika Memorandums, economic agreements etc.). The right-wing and the socialdemocrats agree as they support and back both the neoliberal assault against the peoples and the imperialist redistribution of resources.
NATO continues to be the military arm of imperialism and a basic tool for achieving the goals of the governments and monopolies. NATO’s expansion, its so-called “partnerships” and growing military capacity is increasing insecurity and creating serious dangers or humanity. NATO is spreading its lethal capacity to former Soviet states, in the Pacific region, Asia and Africa.
In the struggle to conquer resources and expand the political and economic influence of their interests, leading imperialist powers do not hesitate to cooperate with reactionary forces, be it fascists (Ukraine, Europe) or with Islamic fundamentalist groups (Libya, Syria etc.). Not only do they cooperate, but they also control puppet governments they themselves have installed to implement reactionary policies, enforcing anticommunism and silencing the genuine democratic forces and peace-loving movements. The tragic reality demonstrates that the so-called “ISIS”, the terrorist fundamentalist group, grew stronger because of the occupation in Iraq and the internal conflicts in Syria. The USA and EU governments either tolerated or funded such extremist organizations to overthrow the Assad regime and impose their domination in the region.
Israel’s new attack in Gaza and the devastation of the Gaza Strip, demonstrated once again that although the majority of public opinion in various countries opposed this aggression by Israel, the international community tolerates it. The double standards policy and hypocrisy in the US and EU foreign policy, which is arming with the most modern weapons the 5th of 6th biggest army, Israel’s non-punishment in the face of the flagrant violation of International Law and international Humanitarian Law, allowed Israel to commit yet another war crime. Israel is also preparing for the next war, given that just a week ago it decided an increase to 14 billion dollars in the military budget for the next two years.
In the EU the right-wing and social-democrats are in the forefront of an anti-communist attack, revising and rewriting history in order to equate fascism with communism which in reality are exact opposites. The recent European elections saw neo-fascist, reactionary and ultra-right parties with racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, winning increased representation in the European parliament. The same trend was also evident in many national parliaments too.
Fascism constitutes a real threat to humanity and is cultivated by the actions of big capital which tolerates and reinforces the fascist ideology, by either using fascism for its authoritarian decisions of for implementing anti-social measures against the peoples and by using reactionary and fascist forces to take control within the framework of the struggle of the monopolies and their political allies in order to impose their domination. Without support, these fascist and reactionary forces cannot survive and stand on their feet.
The Communist and Workers Parties are at the forefront of the struggle against the imperialist interventions, for peace and sovereignty of the peoples. As AKEL, we are working in a broad manner, together with the trade union movement and organised groups and associations, to raise the people’s consciousness regarding the critical nature of the situation. In many countries, the Communist Parties are forging and building a broad popular front against capitalist exploitation and imperialist wars.
We express our solidarity with the struggles of the peoples in Europe, Cuba and in Latin America, the Arab countries and former Soviet Republics.
We need to enhance and broaden the action of the peace movements and demand from governments not to participate in imperialist wars and rivalries. We need to free our planet from nuclear weapons and in particular to make the region of the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean a nuclear-free zone.
AKEL expresses its steadfast and firm opposition to the use of the British bases in Cyprus in the war in Iraq and Syria. We have also criticized the government’s decision to get involved in the war, by providing an air force base in Cyprus as a launching pad. Our stand does not mean in any way support to the extremist fundamentalist organisations. On the contrary, AKEL long ago, like other parties did, pointed out the obvious danger of the rise of fanatical and sectarian groups in the region of the Middle East as a consequence of the devastation caused in Iraq and Syria. Not only do we denounce and condemn narrow-minded sectarianism and fundamentalism, but we also openly pinpoint that it is an ideology of hatred and is against the interests of the peoples.
AKEL, as all the participants know, is participating actively in the Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left GUE/NGL in the European Parliament. We believe that, despite the differences in ideology, there is a big possibility for cooperation, as long as each party can defend its policy and ideology. The attacks on the peoples can be better impeded and countered through cooperation.
Our autonomous and bilateral activity is not subordinated or reppressed because of our active participation in GUE/NGL. On the contrary, we counter and oppose views that undermine the confederal character of the Group. We will never accept these views to be established. We believe that the Communist Parties can and do have a significant influence inside GUE/NGL. Besides, this is the pressing need of our times, namely that we should play this role at every opportunity offered. For example, with regards the cause of Palestine, the presence of GUE/NGL is significant, as the recent visit of the Group there also proved where the role of the Communist Parties in the visit was decisive. Their role was also decisive in the reaction by GUE/NGL against the European Parliament’s vote in favour of the Association Agreement with Ukraine.
Comrades,
The forthcoming International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties in Ecuador is an important opportunity for our parties with regards our struggles for solidarity, peace and socialism. We stand for the defence of the rights of the peoples, against the attacks of capitalism which is aiming to abolish the right to work, social and public rights and weaken the working class and other social strata.
The Communist Parties remain the vehicles of the perspective for a world of justice and peace, as long as we continue to fight, intensify our joint actions and rally the broad masses, which are being crushed by the very nature of the exploitative system, around our struggles and goals. The system’s barbarity has two sides: one side to the system presents itself as modern and is turning working people and small and middle strata into slaves, both in socio-economic terms, but also as far as rights are concerned. Its other side is the so-called democratisation that is being imposed by all means, through the waging of economic and military wars. Barbarity and war are not mere choices for the system. They constitute the system itself.
The political forces of socialism represent the only genuine viable option and path for humanity, for the cause of peace so that the needs of humanity and the peoples can be met.
