On 12 March 2026, on the initiative of the KKE, a teleconference was held with Communist and Workers’ Parties of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf region, namely from Algeria, Cyprus, Greece, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Syria and Turkey.
The introductory speech was given by Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the KKE. The speech reads as follows:
Dear comrades,
We would like to thank you for responding to the invitation of the KKE and for participating in today’s urgent teleconference of the Communist and Workers’ parties of our region, which is taking place under extremely dangerous conditions for our peoples, dramatically exacerbated by the criminal and reprehensible attack launched by the US and Israel against the people of Iran.
This is a development that has already cost the lives of hundreds of civilians, caused enormous material and technical destruction both in Iran and other countries in the region, and is dragging the Gulf countries, the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caspian Sea, and the Caucasus into the flames of war, at a time when the bloody imperialist war in Ukraine continues into its fifth year.
In our country, the New Democracy government, with the support of PASOK, SYRIZA, and other bourgeois parties, following in the footsteps of previous governments, is deepening Greece’s involvement in imperialist wars and in the plans of the US, NATO, and the EU, seeking to strengthen the position of the bourgeoisie, turning the country into an energy and transport hub, and aiming to secure a larger share of the spoils of imperialist wars and interventions.
This dangerous policy of involvement is being carried out by turning the entire country into a NATO military launching pad, utilizing US bases, supporting the Zelenskyy regime and supplying weapons to Ukraine, and pursuing strategic relations with the state of Israel.
Parts of the Greek armed forces are being deployed on imperialist missions abroad, to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans. There are plans to send Greek troops to the Gaza Strip, while the Greek Ministry of Defence is taking a particularly dangerous stance by urging the people to familiarize themselves with the “flag-draped coffins of soldiers coming home”.
In practice, it has been shown that involvement in the plans of the US, NATO, the EU, and Israel not only fails to guarantee the security of the people, but also renders the country a target for retaliation and has set in motion developments that undermine sovereign rights.
The KKE rejects the spurious pretexts of the imperialists, exposes the imperialist nature of the US intervention aimed at plundering the country’s energy wealth and highlights that the broader goal of Israel and the US is to establish the economic and geopolitical framework of the “New Middle East” through Israel’s agreements with several Arab states (the Abraham Accords) and the implementation of the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), in opposition to China’s “New Silk Road” and Iran’s plans.
The KKE has always stood by the Palestinian people, condemning their occupation and genocide by the murderous state of Israel, with the support of the US, NATO, and the EU.
It is the Party that, as a matter of principle, has expressed its unwavering internationalist solidarity from the very first day of the new escalation of Israeli brutality and genocide in the Gaza Strip, carried out under the pretext of the Hamas attack on October 2023, and has strongly denounced attempts to slander the Palestinian struggle and to equate the perpetrator with the victim —actions supported by the New Democracy government and other bourgeois parties, who aligned themselves with the positions of Israel and the war criminal Netanyahu, while justifying the occupier’s so-called “right to self-defence”.
Today, the KKE is once again at the forefront of the struggle in Greece condemning the criminal attack and imperialist war of Euro-Atlanticism (the US–NATO) in the Middle East. It stands in solidarity with the people of Iran, exposes that the US–NATO bases, which serve as springboards for wars, also act as a “magnet” for dangers to our people, and demands their closure. We struggle for the return of the Greek armed forces, which are deployed in the region to serve the interests of the bourgeoisie and its allies, and we highlight that the deployment of warships and aircraft to Cyprus is not for the protection of the people of Cyprus, but rather to safeguard the British–NATO bases located there as British territory.
It will continue to support actions by trade unions and other mass organizations of the popular movement to block NATO forces and “cargoes of death” as they pass through Greek ports, as was done in the previous period (COSCO dockworkers, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupolis, Tyrnavos, etc.).
The KKE strongly supports soldiers and officers who oppose anti-popular policies and imperialist plans.
Through the intervention of communists in the workers’ and people’s movement, the correct understanding is gaining ground that, in times of war, there are no shared national interests between workers and capitalists.
Comrades,
We believe that the US plan this time is even more expansive than in the previous period. After all, this is largely acknowledged by the US imperialists themselves, who are acting in close cooperation with the state perpetrating the murder of the Palestinian people.
North American imperialism, emboldened by the attack on Venezuela, including the kidnapping of Maduro, developments in Panama —where it wrested control of the Panama Canal from the Chinese monopolies— and the secret talks with the Russian leadership, as well as the corresponding actions to draw India to its side, has set its sights on a broader plan. The aggressive intentions towards Greenland, and also against the people of heroic Cuba, who for decades have endured the consequences of blockade and economic strangulation, are no coincidence.
Opening a parenthesis, I would like to emphasize that the KKE has always stood in solidarity with the Cuban people and the Communist Party of Cuba in their struggle to defend the Cuban Revolution. Yesterday in Athens, we held a mass rally and march to the US embassy to condemn the imperialist plans against Cuba.
The US plan under Trump’s leadership envisages methodical steps —whether through economic, diplomatic–political or military means— to strengthen the position of US monopolies at the expense of their competitors, foremost among them China, which has now become a powerful capitalist economy, competing with the US on multiple fronts and seeking to build its own Eurasian alliance.
The focus of their conflict is mineral wealth, energy resources, rare earths, as well as transport routes for commodities and geopolitical footholds —all of which ultimately determine market shares and monopoly profits.
Iran, and control over it, is a key link in this plan. We observe that the firepower of the US and its allies, concentrated in the region —including two aircraft carriers— together with their intentions to deploy ground forces, is aimed at undermining the geopolitical standing of the current Iranian leadership in the rivalry between the US and China. This could even entail attempts to divide Iran into smaller states, in line with the familiar imperialist tactic of “divide and rule”.
In order to deceive the people, the imperialists invoke various pretexts, such as “democracy” and “freedom” for the Iranian people, deliberately exploiting the mass and just mobilizations that have taken place recently for their social and political rights. They can fool no one! The same pretexts were used in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, and it is clear to any reasonable person today that they are lying and hypocritical!
Comrades,
In Greece, we are enlightening workers that imperialist war is not a war of the people! Now is the time for each and every one of us to take responsibility. The way in which the people respond to these rapid developments is being decided at this very moment. Above all, it is necessary to distance themselves from the plans that are leading them to disaster and to form a line of struggle based on their own real interests. The stance that the people adopt towards this policy of involvement may well determine future developments.
Hope and a way out of this burning world can and must be provided by the people themselves through their struggle, decisively joining forces with the KKE, which has taken on the responsibility of leading this struggle.
We believe that the dilemma of “Euro-Atlantic or Eurasian camp” is false, runs counter to the interests of the working class and the peoples, and undermines their independent ideological and political struggle to overthrow capitalism and build socialism–communism.
It is necessary to intensify the struggle against the decayed system of profit, which is synonymous with exploitation and war, in order to break the chain that drags the people into the abyss. Is it necessary to open the way for the overthrow of the capitalist system and the creation of a new society, socialism–communism: a society of true prosperity, peace, and solidarity with the peoples of the entire world.
Thank you, and I wish you strength for the struggles ahead, with the firm belief that common struggle and internationalist solidarity are the people’s decisive weapons!
