Communist Europe

[ComradeRobertRiley]

Euro News - United Left Alliance (http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?page=detail_info&lng=1&option=11,info&PHPSESSID=b9457e241207a6cad507745636513f04)


Alliance planned for Europe's far-left

Far-left parties have met in Berlin with the aim of forming a grand alliance of communists and socialists in the European parliament. And they want to achieve it in time for the European elections in June. While the delegates are looking forward, they are not forgetting their ideological forebears. Many of them turned out to pay homage to Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, 85 years after their murder by right-wing paramilitaries for fomenting a failed communist uprising.

There were some familiar faces from the former east German regime at the commemoration, including ex-communist party boss Egon Krenz. Liebknecht and Luxemburg founded the German communist party in 1918 but their luck ran out the following year when their uprising was put down.

[Jesus Christ]

good luck making that a reality

[Rob]

Reminds me of what the Western European far-right wanted back in the 80s--a united European block.

[Comrade Ceausescu]

Yeah whatever guys.Just sit in your corners and discuss revolution with your discussion group of 3 people. I'm for a united front against the capitalist class!

[Kez]

i dont think they will get 10000 votes across europe

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 09:33 PM
i dont think they will get 10000 votes across europe
That's pretty defeatist. if they get all their members at least to vote they should be able to secure a few hundred thousand.

[Kez]

i dont think they got that many members

[ComradeRobertRiley]

Perhaps someone can enlighten me about the responces to this.

I would have thought that uniting leftists would be a good thing.

[RedAnarchist]

United we will all let the Red Flag sweep across Europe, but divided we will be crushed under the Neo-con boot!

I'm in full support of their plans - we need to liberate the people of the EU from the corruption, decadence and greede of the cappies.

[Rob]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 10:41 PM
United we will all let the Red Flag sweep across Europe, but divided we will be crushed under the Neo-con boot!

I'm in full support of their plans - we need to liberate the people of the EU from the corruption, decadence and greede of the cappies.
*cough*outmoded dogmatic rhetoric*cough*
Anyway, sure the international revolution's all well and good, I just don't see it happening. That and I'm really pro-national sovereignty.

[Monty Cantsin]

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/1999/365/365p18.htm

[Comrade Zeke]

I think if the Communists won in Spain where the most powerful Communist class county in Eroupe after Russia Ireland and Italy they would take hold of Eroupe would go Communist. Any Comments?
Comrade Ceaususcu what do you think,do you think Romania will go back to Communism? :D

[redstar2000]

Given its emphasis on bourgeois electoral politics, it seems to me that this "far left" bloc is just a new version of the 2nd International.

They are not "communists"; they are real social democrats (unlike the parties that still use that name...which are all capitalist parties now).

Having said that, it is my belief that Europe will have the first major--and successful--proletarian revolutions in this century. I think a united communist (not social-democratic) Europe is quite possible by 2100...and perhaps sooner than that.

http://anarchist-action.org/forums/images/smiles/redstar.gif

The RedStar2000 Papers (http://www.anarchist-action.org/marxists/redstar2000/)
A site about communist ideas

[Blackberry]

Originally posted by [email protected] 13 2004, 09:33 AM
Perhaps someone can enlighten me about the responces to this.

I would have thought that uniting leftists would be a good thing.
What are the odds that a 'communist' win will return us to capitalism? I'll lay my money on it any day.

[Komsomolez]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 09:33 PM
i dont think they will get 10000 votes across europe
Well I can only talk about Austria (a country with a right-wing government)
In 2002 27567 people voted for the Austrian Communist Party (0.56%) - and I'm sure this percentage is higher in other Countries in Europe.

[YKTMX]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12 2004, 10:21 PM
i dont think they got that many members
Well, if they get Rifondazione, then that's at least a hundred thousand.

[Kez]

even if there are that many communists, who is to say all commies would vote for these lot?

[Weidt]

New European Party of the Left Founded
by Victor Grossman, Berlin
January 14, 2004

Eleven leftist and communist parties, meeting in Berlin on January 11th, finally agreed after ten years of discussion and debate to found a party called the European Left. The parties agreed on a common program but planned further debate on the statute, which will probably call for a chairperson, an executive committee and a council of party leaders. Eight other parties also attended the meeting did not join but remained as observers, waiting for confirmation from their home countries or considering the founding premature. The eleven who did join decided the step was necessary in preparation for the June elections to the European Parliament, which already has a leftwing caucus but hopes to enlarge it substantially, especially with the help of leftist parties in the ten new countries joining the European Union. These include the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (the Czech Republic), the Communist Party of Slovakia, the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party and the AKEL of Cyprus, though the last named, proportionately the strongest, was one of those deciding to maintain an observer status. The eleven founding parties have a membership of about a half million members.

According to Lothar Bisky, chair of the host party, Germany's Party of Democratic Socialism: 'The time is ripe for a party of European leftists. A Europe of peace, of justice, of openness and democracy is impossible without a strong visible and self-assured Left. We will be treading new paths and abandoning old models of thought," he said, adding that the party should become more than simply a loose umbrella organization. It should be a party open to varying work methods and to democratic cooperation. The answer as to what kind of Europe the Left wants will be more convincing "if we ourselves demonstrate the answer: democracy, equality, transparency and tolerance are consensus and prerequisite for our alternatives." Not party bureaucracy and party diplomacy, but active engagement in politics, with changes in the everyday life of the people as our goals.

The most active initiators of the new party were, besides the German PDS, Italy's Party of the Communist Refoundation, represented by its leader, Fausto Bertinotti, and Nicos Houndis of the Greek Coalition of Left, Political Movements and Ecology (SYNASPISMOS). Also joining from the start are the Communist Parties of France, Austria, Slovakia and the left parties of Luxembourg and Spain.

Among those present but not immediately joining were the AKEL of Cyprus, the Socialist Party of the Netherlands, whose leader Tiny Kox, a Senator in the Netherlands, thought they should wait until they were stronger. Until then he was satisfied with the caucus of the United Left in the European Parliament as it now stands. Delegates from the Norwegian Socialist Left Party and the Finnish Left Alliance expressed their desire to cooperate but also decided to keep for now the status of observer. Also undecided or waiting were the Greek Communist Party, the Czech Communist Party and two Catalonian leftwing parties.

In the new program, the eleven founding members stressed eight main demands:

1. No weapons of mass destruction from the Atlantic to the Urals but rather a Europe of collective security without NATO or any military alliance of the European Union.

2. A redistribution from rich to poor, solidarity, and social policies aimed at full employment and job training, investment in ecology, taxation of capital speculation. People not profits must become central.

3. No attacks on human rights in the name of fighting terrorism but an open Europe with human rights and asylum for refugees.

4. No trade war at the expense of the less developed countries but courageous initiatives for just economic and political partnership.

5. Opposition to the concentration of the media in fewer and fewer hands and a plurality of opinions, information, culture and education with cultural variety, knowledge and information for all.

6. Ecological goals against CO2 emission, export of garbage, the exploitation of energy resources and forests.

7. A rollback of growing sexist discrimination caused by globalization, for equal rights for men and women.

8. A fight against the domination by capital and the rule of capitalism. We want a different culture of life, work, production and distribution.

"We orient ourselves toward the fight for peace, for anti-fascism, anti-racism, democracy, social justice, feminism and ecology. We remain open to all who cannot yet or do not wish to join us. We deeply respect varied forms of cooperation and practice them so our continent becomes more democratic, social and peaceful."

The meeting and the founding of the new alliance or party–unions of rightwing, Social Democratic, Green and other groups in the European Parliament already exist–did not hide sharp differences of opinion on the left in some countries. One of these was in the host country, whose PDS still faces sharp controversy in its ranks about its present course, especially its participation in a coalition with the Social Democratic Party in the Berlin government, involving sharp cuts in social programs in order to stave off bankruptcy.

Some observers found it symbolic that the meeting was held in the same auditorium where the German Communist Party was founded 84 years ago by leaders like Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, whose memory was marked the same day by the traditional annual march of tens of thousands of leftists from Berlin and many other German and foreign places. The European delegates took part in the opening ceremonies, placing red carnations near the big stone epitaph to the two murdered leaders.

[FAB]

Originally posted by Comrade [email protected] 13 2004, 03:30 AM

Comrade Ceaususcu what do you think,do you think Romania will go back to Communism? :D
Ceaususcu was a fascist opressor and there was no communism everywhere.

[RedAnarchist]

he was also nuts. i saw a documentary on bcc 4 about him and he was just so insane.

to call him communist is an insult to communism

[YKTMX]

Great news. Good on the left, we should give ourselves a pat on the back!

[Iepilei]

I think this is a positive step forward in uniting the left against the right, atleast in Europe. Hopefully it'll amount to more than just a good idea.

[kingbee]

being 18 in two months means they ll have my vote soon.

when are the european elections?

[ComradeRobertRiley]

hmm what about names though?
after all thats the important thing!


USSE?

United socialist states of europe?

[dannie]

i think this is a good idea, if we got form a european socialist block, we would be able to advance it to a far stadia of socialism, being ideologic, other countries would join us and so forth and so on till we can cut of the U$ leaving it with no recources and state by state they would join our socialist world, wou would be able to advance to communism, and that without bloodshet

aaaaaaaaaaah dreams

this is a good idea, tough hard to accomplish, but if ché tought us one thing is that the impossible is possible

btw, i would name it, SESA, socialistic european state alliance