The events of the 51^st Festival of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE) and its magazine, Odigitis, were held in Thessaloniki from 18 to 20 September 2025, with great success.

Political and cultural events were held under the slogan “We overthrow the old, forging the path to the new. Socialism – for justice to prevail!”

Over the course of three days, tens of thousands of people visited the festival grounds. The venues, which hosted political discussions, music concerts, theatrical performances, children's playgrounds, a bookstore, exhibitions and more, were filled with workers and young people who enjoyed themselves while learning about the positions of the KKE and KNE.

On Saturday 20 September, a political rally was held, at which Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS           of the CC of the KKE, delivered a speech. He referred, among other things, to domestic and international developments, as well as to the positions of the KKE.

“The contradictions and dead ends of today’s decayed system have reached unprecedented depths. The imperialists will not hesitate to sacrifice the peoples in order to settle their accounts with each other; they are preparing for this. Two major wars are already raging in our neighbourhood, and there are more active war fronts worldwide than there were during the Second World War. Military spending is also higher than ever before. Why is this happening? The answer lies in the big picture. What is at stake now is supremacy in the international imperialist system. The contenders are, on the one hand, the USA, which has maintained supremacy for eight decades; and, on the other hand, China, the rising power. In other words, the international correlation of forces between the Euro-Atlantic (US-EU-NATO) and Eurasian (China, Russia, etc.) blocs is at stake. They have already drawn swords, dividing and re-dividing spheres of influence, natural resources, and labour force, drawing lines on top of each others’ map to chart the routes for the transport of commodities and pipelines (...).

Nothing can stop them. They have no remorse or moral principles —exploiters like them don’t understand such things! They even see investment opportunities in the emaciated bodies of Palestinian children, dollar and euro signs light up in their eyes. Only the people can stop them when they realize their enormous power and use it to their own advantage! The peoples are putting obstacles in their way today, and they have the potential to put even more in the future.

Particularly now, when an entire people —the heroic people of Palestine— are experiencing the greatest brutality with the razing of Gaza, is the time for the greatest possible popular mobilization.

As human beings, we cannot turn a blind eye to the crimes committed by the murderers of the state of Israel with the backing of the US and the EU, which support this genocide. (...) The Palestinian people have committed no "crime" other than existing on their own land, of claiming their own independent homeland and fighting for it by all means , including the use of weapons, as is their right and as the Greek people have done throughout their history. (...) Now is the time to increase pressure to finally implement the unanimous decision of the Greek Parliament to recognize the Palestinian state. (…)

There are many reasons why the ruling class of our country wants to further involve Greece in these rivalries, Euro-Atlantic plans and even the carnage of war. The aim is to turn Greece into an energy and transport hub for Europe, for which it competes with the ruling class of Turkey. This is about the interests of shipping capital, which are currently tied up with the transport of American LNG that is extremely expensive for the people. It is also about the profits of industrial capital, which aspires to transform industries and old industrial sites into war factories and benefit from hundreds of billions of euros in European programmes —that is, the people's money. It is also about the ambitions of construction and industrial capital, which aspire to dip their hands on the honey pot of Ukraine’s reconstruction (...)

The New Democracy government is currently playing a dangerous game with so-called “energy upgrades”, which are being carried out at the expense of the Greek people! Even more dangerous is the fact that it is trying to reverse reality and foster complacency. They claim that with the expression of interest by US monopolies in Greek offshore plots —in other words, their desire to exploit the wealth of the Greek people— means that the country is ‘growing stronger’ and ‘protected’, and that this ‘nullifies the Turkish-Libyan memorandum’. They even go so far as to argue provocatively that ‘peace in the region will come through economic agreements’ with large monopolies, when in fact this brings war closer, by sharpening competition.

Do they really think that people have short memories and won’t remember their previous claims about the famous East Med pipeline, the Greece-Cyprus-Israel electricity interconnector, and many other projects?And what happened to all of those? They ended up in the dustbin, after adding fuel to the smoldering fire in the Mediterranean.

The presence of large monopoly groups in the region only spells bad news for the people and the youth. They create dangers without offering any prospect of cheaper energy for the people.

There is no room for complacency! Now we must shout loudly: Out of the carnage of imperialist war! No trust in the bourgeoisie or their governments! All US bases throughout the country, including the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps headquarters in Thessaloniki, must be closed. The use of the country’s ports and infrastructure for their murderous purposes must stop immediately. Our people must forge their own path, in opposition to imperialist plans. This is where hope lies!”.

Referring to the government’s anti-popular policies, D. Koutsoumbas urged workers to strengthen their organization and struggle on the day of the general strike. He called on them “to flood the streets on 1 October,  bring workplaces to a standstill,  strengthen the ranks of the trade unions, and encourage many more people to join their unions. The new generation of workers must be at the forefront of this battle, decisively and en masse, for their present and future!”.

“Now the anger must turn into a struggle of rupture, conflict, and a revolutionary overthrow until the end, rather than a new cycle of self-deception and disappointment. Now, we must look only forward; to create a large, powerful, nationwide coordinated movement with a solid foundation in the workplace and trade unions, and will build an alliance of all those affected by anti-popular policies, all those who have a common interest —workers, the self-employed, farmers, university and school students”, he added.

“Major social upheavals and revolutions mature through trials and tribulations, through great difficulties and turning points. The question is whether you are ready to respond to the needs of the times when history knocks on your door (...) That is precisely why the main theme of our 22^nd Congress, which will be held from 29 to 31 January, 2026, after a rich internal party and public process spanning four months, is the Party itself: A powerful KKE, steadfast in every trial, ready to answer history’s call for socialism!”, concluded the GS of the CC of the KKE.

23.09.2025