European Communist Initiative: With a new impetus to meet the complex needs of the struggle in conditions of pandemic and intensification of competition, so that the people do not shoulder the burden of the capitalist crisis.

A teleconference of the Full Plenum of the European Communist Initiative (ECI) parties took place on Sunday, December 13. The delegation of the KKE consisted of  Giorgos Marinos, Member of the PB of the CC of the KKE, Eliseos Vagenas, Member of the CC and Head of the Section of International Relations of the CC, Kostas Papadakis, Member of the CC and MEP, Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos, Member of the Section of International Relations of the CC and MEP, and Aris Evangelidis, Member of the Section of International Relations of the CC.

The teleconference was attended by the following parties: the Party of Labor of Austria, the Union of Communists in Bulgaria, the Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia, the Communist Party in Denmark, the Communist Workers' Party - For Peace and Socialism (Finland), the Communist Revolutionary Party of France, the Pole of Communist Revival in France, the Unified Communist Party of Georgia, the Communist Party of Greece, the Hungarian Workers' Party, the Workers' Party of Ireland, the Communist Party, Italy, the Socialist Party of Latvia, the Communist Party of Norway, the Communist Party of Poland, the Russian Communist Workers' Party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia, the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain, the Communist Party of Sweden, the Communist Party of Turkey, and the Union of Communists of Ukraine.

At the beginning of the teleconference, Kostas Papadakis, member of the CC and MEP of the KKE, presented the key points of the Introductory Speech of the ECI Secretariat.

During the Full Plenum, the parties discussed the evolution of the pandemic that has dramatic consequences for the people causing thousands of deaths and cases in every country, the unacceptable conditions prevailing in public health systems, their commodification based on the criterion of profitability and the adaptation to the measures of the capital, leading to numerous cases due to the lack of effective measures by governments and the EU. Moreover, they discussed the necessity to intensify the struggle for an exclusively public and free health system, the recruitment of permanent doctors and nurses, the requisition of private clinics without compensation, the adoption of effective measures in workplaces, means of transport, nursing homes, etc. They particularly pointed out that this unacceptable situation should not be overshadowed by the begging of the vaccine distribution, stressing the need for the vaccine to be safe and free, noting that fierce competition between monopolies is taking place for the control over the vaccine market. They also underlined that under these circumstances, the example of Cuba, the supremacy of its health system, as well as its internationalist attitude, which is confirmed by the campaign for the award the Nobel Peace Prize to the Cuban doctors, stood out.

Furthermore, they discussed the serious consequences of the outbreak of the capitalist crisis for the working class and the other poor popular strata, which were accelerated by the pandemic, causing millions of unemployed, suspension of work, teleworking, intensification of work, and insecurity. They examined its depth and timing, as well as the anti-popular plans of their governments' bourgeoisies and the EU, which make use of new anti-labor mechanisms and measures that will be funded  by the billions of the so-called Recovery Fund to support the competitiveness and profitability of business groups.

They highlighted the tasks of the Communist Parties in leading the struggle so that the people would not pay for the consequences of the capitalist crisis, to wage struggles against the attack on labor and social insurance rights, wages and pensions, to decisively respond to repression and anti-communism.

On this ground,  the parties of the ECI assessed the ongoing fierce capitalist competition and dangerous plans, with new imperialist interventions and painful arrangements for the peoples launched by the EU, US, NATO due to their competition with China and Russia, in a number of regions where strategic interests over the control of markets, energy transfer routes, etc are at stake. They also stressed that there should be no illusions about the role of the Biden administration, which will  continue defending the interests of the US bourgeoisie at the expense of the people.

Giorgos Marinos, member of the PB of the CC of the KKE, noted in his closing speech that in the face of these rapid and dangerous developments for the peoples, the ECI parties should intensify their efforts in each country, contributing to the advancement of class struggle, the strengthening of their ties with the working class of their countries and the undertaking of new militant ECI initiatives and interventions for the next period.

At the same time, the Full Plenum of the ECI discussed a number of organizational issues and approved the new composition of the Secretariat, which will include the following parties: the Party of Labor of Austria, the Communist Party of Greece, the Hungarian Workers' Party, the Communist Party, Italy, the Socialist Party of Latvia, the Communist Party of Poland, the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain, the Communist Party of Sweden, and the Communist Party of Turkey.

14.12.2020