Thank you very much for participating in the internationalist event in Athens commemorating the 108th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a lasting source of inspiration and strength for communists and the working class worldwide.
We carried out meaningful work and exchanged views and experiences on very important issues. Twenty-six Communist Parties from many countries around the world presented their positions. Furthermore, the importance of continuing these initiatives and strengthening the multifaceted cooperation among our parties was underscored.
We have met with many parties over the years at international and regional meetings of communist and workers' parties and at various events and have issued joint statements on serious problems facing the peoples and on international developments.
Of particular importance is the common position of our parties regarding the war in Ukraine and the assessment that it is imperialist on both sides —both on the side of the US, NATO, and the EU, and on the side of capitalist Russia and its allies. The war is being waged and directed by the bourgeoisie to control markets and natural resources, against the Russian and Ukrainian people who once lived and fought together to build socialism in the Soviet Union and defeated the Nazi monster in World War II.
Communist parties are tested at critical turning points in history, and the stance of our parties on the imperialist war is a legacy — standing in clear contrast to parties that support the goals and strategy of the bourgeoisie, capitalist states, and imperialist alliances, and that attempt to drag the communist movement into the plans of the Euro-Atlantic or Eurasian alliance.
Communists who believe in the struggle for socialism cannot be entrapped in false dilemmas and choose one imperialist side or another. The forces calling on the Communist Parties to side with China and Russia are sowing division. They call on the Communist Parties to place their hopes in the bourgeoisie and the capitalist state of Russia, which is a product of the counter-revolution and has its own strategic objectives, to support the interests of Chinese monopolies, in competition with the US ones for supremacy in the capitalist system, and to turn a blind eye to the indisputable fact that capitalist relations of production have long dominated China, that the number of billionaires is rapidly increasing, that the labour force is treated as a commodity and the exploitation of the working class is intensifying, while huge amounts of capital are being exported to all continents.
The so-called "World Anti-Imperialist Platform" has assumed a particularly notable role, carrying out systematic undermining work and attempting by all means to erode communist principles.
Once again, it is confirmed that maintaining and protecting the ideological, political and organizational independence of the Communist Parties is a fundamental principle and must be safeguarded as carefully as the apple of our eye.
The conflict within the communist movement continues and is intensifying; the imperialist war has deepened the ideological, political and organizational crisis it faces, and our parties are confronting very serious political tasks.
Dear comrades,
Our parties have supported and continue to support the heroic and just struggle of the Palestinian people to throw off Israeli occupation and gain their own homeland, to live without oppression and exploitation. We have condemned the murderous state of Israel and the crime of genocide it is committing with the support of the US, NATO, and the EU. We continue the struggle and strengthen our solidarity with the Palestinian people, the peoples of Syria, Lebanon, and all peoples suffering from capitalist exploitation and imperialist aggression.
Together we signed the statement on the 155th anniversary of Lenin's birth, commemorating his magnificent theoretical work and revolutionary action, his decisive contribution to the victory of the October Revolution, for which we are issuing another important Joint Statement today.
We study its lessons and draw conclusions so that we can fight the battles ahead of us more decisively, in our countries and internationally.
The Bolsheviks' path to power offers irreplaceable experience, highlighting the conviction in the vanguard role and historical mission of the working class, the class struggle, the concentration and preparation of working-class and popular forces for the socialist revolution, the overthrow of the exploiters and the building of socialism, which is governed by scientific laws: workers' power, the socialization of the means of production and central scientific planning. These laws are trampled upon by so-called "market socialism," which is diametrically opposed to our worldview and is a vehicle for capitalist relations of production and capitalist profit.
The Bolsheviks' path to victory also shaped the attitude of communists towards bourgeois governments and bourgeois parties. The correctness of this strategic choice was proven in real life by the experience of the so-called "democratic, progressive governments," with which social democracy, taking advantage of the participation or support of the Communist Parties, manages capitalism and anti-popular policies, disappoints popular expectations, disarms the communist and labour movement, and serves the interests of the bourgeoisie, as we can see from developments in Latin America, Europe, and around the world.
Our era is one of transition from capitalism to socialism-communism, and the counter-revolution not only does not change this historically significant fundamental position but confirms it every day, through the intensification of the basic contradiction of the system —the social character of labour and the capitalist appropriation of its results, the intensification of the contradiction between capital and wage labour — which will be overcome by the socialist revolution and construction.
Capitalism, now in its imperialist stage —the highest and final stage of the exploitative system— has exceeded its historical limits and entered a state of decay. The solution lies in the path of its overthrow and not in being trapped in the search for the well-known intermediate transitional stages within the framework of capitalism that were adopted by the communist movement, in contradiction to the course, development and lessons of the October Socialist Revolution.
The Leninist criteria for imperialism and monopoly capitalism are a valuable tool for the analysis of the Communist Parties and the ideological political struggle that is being waged.
Every capitalist state participates in the imperialist system and occupies its position according to its economic, political, and military power, within the framework of uneven development and unequal international relations, which are constantly changing and being rearranged.
These criteria reveal how erroneous are the positions that identify or limit imperialism to the US or powerful EU states, based on their aggressive foreign policy, ignoring the economic basis of imperialism, i.e. monopolies, and excluding, for example, China, Russia, India, Brazil, and dozens of other capitalist states from the imperialist system, while downplaying the role played by large shareholder-owned business groups and the bourgeois states that express their interests.
We have a lot of work ahead of us and we must persevere, making use of every possibility to absorb and further develop our theory, to study capitalism and the strategy of the bourgeoisie in our countries more deeply, to fortify the programmatic directions for the socialist character of the revolution, and to carefully elaborate the line of rallying and struggle against monopolies and capitalism.
The bourgeoisie in every capitalist state, regardless of its position in the imperialist system and its international relations, is an exploitative class; it holds power, and this determines the strategy of the communists for its overthrow.
The bourgeois state carries out its economic, ideological, political and repressive functions and even surrenders sovereign rights to protect and perpetuate bourgeois power. The threads of unequal relations can only be cut by smashing the bourgeois state, establishing workers' power and building socialism, thus creating a new type of international relations based on the mutual benefits of the peoples.
Today, with greater experience, we can focus our attention on the task of strengthening ties with the working class, reinforcing class orientation and regrouping the labour movement, deepening the social alliance with the popular strata, and working more effectively with young people and women of popular origin and background, in the anti-war and anti-imperialist movement.
The October Revolution highlights the vanguard and irreplaceable leading role of the Communist Party, and the importance of the inseparable relationship between revolutionary theory and revolutionary practice, as well as the sense of responsibility, self-denial, and self-sacrifice of communists in serving the high communist ideals that are directly linked to the rights of the working class and the peoples, and to liberation from capitalist shackles.
The KKE is currently in a pre-congress process. Its Congress will take place on 29-31 January 2026. The main theme is the Party itself and the slogan is: “A powerful KKE, steadfast in every trial, ready to answer history's call for socialism”.
In a few days, you will receive a translation of the Central Committee's Theses, and we look forward to receiving your messages of greetings.