European Communist Seminar

07/12/15 Brussels

We strengthen the workers’-people’s struggle against the capitalist barbarity which creates wars, poverty, refugees and immigrants. For the Europe of socialism, peace, social justice.

Dear comrades,

After thanking the kind invitation of the CP of Greece let me start with a few words about the issue of refugees. We agree widely with what comrade Dimitris Koutsoumpas said about this issue when he opened the seminar.

People continue to drown in the Mediterranean, they continue to suffocate in containers and trucks - also, of course, because traffickers want to earn money on them and their misery. Why, however, is this such a profitable business? First, because of the closed borders of the European Union. Second, because of the so-called Dublin Convention which makes it virtually impossible to apply for asylum in any of the rich EU countries. Third and decisive, because the EU rulers in union with the US imperialism and often with their aggressive NATO alliance are the prime cause of the fleeing.

In various coalitions, the national integrity’s destruction was fostered in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. The goal was to overthrow the governments who were not or not completely at the biddings of highly developed Western imperialisms. Any lie, almost any means and any possible ally were alright for this. What’s the point of today’s hypocrisy about the Islamic State? The vacuum in power aroused has created space for those forces, and their allies, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have armed and financed them. In addition we ought to remember: the arms manufacturers earn money from both sides - including German ones in the first row such as Heckler & Koch. They earn on arms exports and on licensing the production of their arms.

This warfare is a major cause for today’s fleeing of millions. Other ones are hunger, underdevelopment and lack of prospective caused by the international relations of exploitation. The German rulers’ propaganda is attempting to split. Refugees who flee hunger and misery are defamed as lower-rung refugees, or “economic refugees”. Countries are being declared safe “third-party states” in order to deport refugees there quickly.

The rulers split and of course they also play off refugees against the marginalised in their own country, refugees against the domestic working class. Our task is to make clear that it is the same groups who profiteer from – at the first view such different issues - the starvation of Greece, the world-wide underdevelopment and from the cuts of welfare (Hartz-laws) in our country. This is the second fact and the second background for today’s fleeing of millions in addition to warfare.

In Germany that led to the result that the so called “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) in the last forecasts allegedly would have a 10 per cent, if there were elections now. They are an alliance of neo-nazis, and a part of the capital and a part of the bourgeois class. This is the same mixture that brought Hitler into power, we have a historic parallel.

* In our country we must stand against racism everywhere at any time - the institutional one, that by organised racist scum, and also the latent one in pub and neighbourhood.

* We have to inform about the reasons for fleeing and about those who make money on them. This is crucial to prevent the separation of the refugees in those who are welcome - favourites are multilingual, well educated and exploitable - and the unwelcome. We demand an unlimited right to asylum, and we demand the right to stay for all refugees.

* Halt the arms exports and halt the destabilisation of Syria, Iraq, and Libya. This would soon and sharply reduce the masses’ fleeing.

* Halt the military plans and deployments against so-called traffickers - the war against traffickers has no effect on the reasons for the fleeing.

* We demand for accommodation fit for human beings and decent conditions for all refugees.

* We declare that the Paris attacks last month do not have anything to do with the refugee crisis, although perhaps one of the terrorists came allegedly as a refugee.

* And particularly in this very situation we demand the ban on racist and fascist gatherings. Fascism is not an opinion, but a crime. There is no right to nazi propaganda, and there is no right to racism!

Dear comrades,

German imperialism has pursued a subtle and successful strategy. During the run-up to the deepening of the current crisis of capitalism, it abused the mass unemployment of those times for drastic cuts in social security and thus induced massive fear of social decline in the working class’s conscience.

This again it abused to convert Germany into a low-pay country compared to its enormously high labour productivity. This tendency has been continued, and German imperialism used the imperialist construction EU to starve - partly in competition and partly in collaboration with the French imperialism - the peripheral EU countries.

By this means, Germany’s monopoly capital went through the crisis quite unharmed and in addition succeeded in attaching sectors of the working class which are important for the conscience of the class as a whole and for the trade unions. These sectors are predominantly parts of big concerns staff who have indefinite duration labour contracts. To them some concessions were made and then emphasized how well “Germany” was managing the crisis. This ideology has an impact. Inside the unions many make up their minds about how to safeguard the “industrial location” Germany. It blurs the class contradiction, and it is a fertile substrate for nationalism and racism.

Unfortunately, the rulers in Germany have succeeded in sweeping away proletarian internationalism almost entirely. In particular in regard to the dramatic exploitation of the people in Greece, the German working class has not complied with their responsibility.

Dear comrades,

regarding the opening words of comrade Dimitris Koutsoumpas, we agree in what he said, as well on the escalating situation in the Middle East. We share the position that the “barbarity of the fanatic jihadists” is used “to foster a pro-war atmosphere amongst the working class”. This is exactly what is happening in Germany.

But we do not share that using inter-imperialist contradictions means necessarily to accept the plans of one of the imperialist centres. We can and we do support the Russian foreign politics which in this moment is objectively anti-imperialist, defending itself against a NATO membership of Ukraine (and years before against the same intention of Georgia), and now helping the Syrian government to defend its right of self-determination and so defending the UN charta. We do not think that Russia is intervening to enter in a competition on materials and energy. Russia, first of all, is defending its national interest of peace which means at the same time to defend its sovereignty.

We agree of course in what was said about TTIP and the plans behind it. The Social Democrat Party of Germany is – as usual – defending the interests of the capital class, being at the side of the christian democrats in the first row to implement TTIP.

Regarding Greece, we repeat what we said and published in diverse opportunities. In Greece some laws of capitalism and class struggle have proved true. The elections of January 25^th, when one out of three voters decided for the leftist party Syriza, led to a swing to the left. The DKP analysed the results as a “shift to left in class conscience” and declared its solidarity with the Greek people in their attempt to free themselves from the Troika’s “inhuman, anti-social austerity politics”. But the DKP has not spread illusions, because the laws of capitalism cannot be abolished by mere desires. This is even less possible when the government misses or even avoids to activate the people for their demands. Whilst in 2010 and 2011 there massive struggles and strikes were still carried out, these activities receded after Syriza’s first election successes in 2012 due to hope for successful agent’s politics. As we all remember, they were reduced to the struggles pursued by PAME and the KKE.

So, in terms of participating in a government, the CP of Greece’s directives have proved correct - no coalition in a government in Greece which tries to deceive that there would be a way out of the Greek debt crisis without a breakaway from the EU.

On the other hand, we understand the no-participation of the Portuguese Communist Party in the same way although the PCP is supporting (or as we would say in Germany: tolerating) a PS-Government, and, by this, is drawing other conclusions because of the particular situation in Portugal. German CP defends the independence of decisions and, at the same time, underlines the responsability of the parties towards the working class in their countries. Answers can be different on certain issues that seem to be similar at the first view.