The May 1 rally of communists and veterans of the antifascist war was held in the Ukrainian capital in an atmosphere of intense repression, provocation and police intimidation. The delegation of the KKE, comprised of G. Marinos . member of the PB of the CC of the KKE and Elisseos Vagenas, member of the CC and Responsible for the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE,  was in Kiev at the invitation of the CP Ukraine.

Speaking at the event, G. Marinos noted the following:

Dear comrades,

The CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), thousands of members and friends of the party and the Communist Youth (ΚΝΕ), thousands of workers, express their internationalist solidarity with the CP of Ukraine, with the communist men and women of your country and decisively denounce anticommunism, the wave of persecution that is being organized by the government, by the Ukrainian authorities.

We denounce the anticommunist law 2558 that was recently passed in the Ukrainian parliament and we demand its annulment.

Today on May 1 we honour the struggles of the working class all over the planet.

In a few days on May 9, we will honour the 70^th anniversary of the great antifascist victory of the peoples.

We, the communist men and women, are proud of our ideology, our values and ideals, our struggles for social progress, for the rights of the peoples.

This cannot be cancelled by any anticommunist force. It cannot be cancelled by the dangerous anticommunist law of the Ukrainian parliament that is attempting to ahistorically equate the Nazi-fascist monster, responsible for appalling crimes, with the communist ideology which has as its aim the liberation of the working class from the shackles of capitalist exploitation and oppression and was the guide for the heroic activity of the communists.

The Soviet Union lost 20 million people in the struggle to defeat fascist Germany and its allies. The Red Army raised the red flag over the Reichstag and this cannot be cancelled out by the Ukrainian authorities or by the EU that has anticommunism as its official ideology.

Socialism was constructed in Ukraine, in the framework of the Soviet Union, and it made a great contribution to the interests of the working class, its people. Inside a few decades, socialism solved significant problems that have existed in capitalism for centuries. It safeguarded the right to work, free social services, it safeguarded the future of the younger generations and this cannot be cancelled out by the counterrevolution, the anti-communist hysteria, the banning of the communist symbols and the activity of communists.

Dear comrades and friends,

The KKE from the very first moment condemned the intervention of the EU and USA in the internal affairs of Ukraine, which contributed to the outbreak of war in the Donbass region, It denounced the activity of fascist forces, anticommunism, the aim of ban the CP and communist ideology, the vandalisms against the statue of Lenin and other antifascist Soviet memorials.

The KKE highlighted these issues with statements in Parliament, in the EU parliament, in the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, with mobilizations and protests at the Ukrainian embassy in Athens, as well as joint statements with other communist parties from all over the world. It sent an MEP to the trial of the CP of Ukraine, while recently the GS of the CC , cde Dimitris Koutsoumpas, demanded the non-ratification of the anticommunist law in his letter to President Poroshenko.

We believe in internationalist solidarity, it is a powerful weapon in our hands.   

We continue to be at the side of the communists of Ukraine.

Hands off the communists !

Anticommunsim shall not pass.

04.05.2015