INTERVENTION AT 21st INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF COMMUNIST AND WORKERS´ PARTIES

Dear comrades,

let me first of all thank the organizers, TKP and KKE, for the effort they have put into organizing this important meeting and the invitation we have received. It is an honor and pleasure for me to salute you on behalf of the SWP of Croatia the coordinating body of CP and WP from Yugoslav area and in my own name.

Allow me a short digression. Today, 100 years since the founding of the Communist International, I would like to remind you that a century has passed since the advent of fascism.
In this framework I have tried to develop my speech.

The communists, communist parties and their symbols are under constant pressure, even persecution, in many European countries. This phenomenon is much more pronounced in the Eastern European countries, where the socialist system prevailed until the counter-revolutionary changes of the 1990s. At the same time, the ultra-right fascist movements are strengthening. This phenomenon is also more pronounced in the former socialist countries.

A constant, anti-communist campaign is also being carried out within the EU institutions. The latest in a series of these developments is the resolution of the EU Parliament, adopted on September 19th in Strasbourg, as part of the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the beginning of WW2. Euphemistically named: The Importance of European Remembrance for the Future of Europe, Equalizing Fascism and Communism. This resolution, in addition to its use of a selective argument selection, absurd improvised constructions and replacement of theses, is also unscientific.

Fascism and the communist idea are the exact opposite. While fascism is inherently criminal, racist, it divides the human species into superhuman and subhuman, masters and servants, into a higher race and a lower, subordinate one, whereby the higher race is entitled to  the extermination the lower one. Socialism, respectively, communist ideology, abolishes unnatural barriers between peoples and offers a vision of a just society, and the fulfillment of human emancipatory aspirations. The fact that in one period there was a slowdown or a halt in realization is a consequence of human factor and external influence, not of the idea.

As a pretext for the equalization of fascism to communism the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was used, which stems from a pragmatic reason with the aim of buying time, it was signed in August 1939, just before the start of the war. The applicants of proposed resolution, among them Poland, do not know, or forget, or intentionally ignore these facts:

–That, Poland had an identical treaty of friendship and non-aggression with Nazi Germany, signed in 1934.
–That, after the annexation of Czechoslovakia, Poland itself annexed the region of Tešin, and part of Slovakia was appropriated by Hungary, also a proponent of the resolution.
– That, in September 1938, an agreement was signed with Nazi Germany by England, France and Italy, hoping to destroy the Soviet Union on their behalf.
–That, England and France accepted and supported the annexation of Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia in 1938.
– That the Soviet Union in the 1930s persistently tried to reach an agreement with the English and French, but in vain.
– That the Soviet Union was willing to join a form of action with France and Czechoslovakia to prevent the annexation, but Poland was the one that did not allow the Red Army units to cross its territory.
These were all capitalist countries, so Nazism and capitalism should be declared analogous  criminal systems, which would in fact be the correct conclusion.

Fascism is the offspring of capitalism, it was initiated by capitalism to protect it from the upcoming socialist revolution. And when that monstrous fruit grew stronger, it squeezed Europe with it's iron fist. And behold, from that grip, Europe was liberated by communism, in a way that, in the clash with fascism and Nazism, endured proportionally and absolutely the greatest casualties and material destruction, defeated and disabled proportionally and absolutely the most of the Nazi military machine or about 80% of it's losses, thanks primarily to the Soviet Red army, and the Communist-led resistance movements in the occupied countries. I proudly point out the contribution of the Yugoslav partisans, who, under the leadership of the Communists, were self-organized and successfully led one of the largest, in fact, the only serious internal resistance to Hitler and his domestic and foreign helpers.

Eight MPs from Croatia came to vote for the resolution and all voted in favor of the resolution. The vote of the MPs belonging to the conservative clero-fascist spectrum does not surprise us. They have acted consistently with their belief. What is worrying is that the resolution was also approved by the so called Liberal Social Wing, which is contrary to their posing as anti-fascists.

The Socialist Workers' Party was the only party in Croatia to condemn this act, so far the anti-fascist association has not done so. Moreover, it has lately been a screen for anti-communism. This means that we have no class allies at this moment. And I believe it is the same in many other places.

After the counter-revolutionary changes of the 1990s and the collapse of the socialist order in Eastern Europe, the imperialist powers did not stop, their ultimate goal is to eradicate communist ideas, thoughts, practices and the emancipatory aspirations from the public discourse, and the above examples are on this path.

Summarizing the past century, we must recall the warning made by revolutionary and communist Clara Zetkin: "As long as there is capitalism, there will be a basic prerequisite for the development of fascism." This is the reason why we have to be aware, we have no class allies, we are surrounded by masses whose class consciousness is below that of a century ago, and we must to strengthen mutual cooperation and solidarity.
The revolution continues.

Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia

Vladimir Kapuralin

In Izmir, 18-20. October 2019.