Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech Republic) 

Milan Krajca, vice-chairman of the Cetral Committee 

Dear Comrades!

Firts of all I would like to express militant greetings to ale participants of the 22nd International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties on behalf of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia from the Czech Republic. Our thanks belong to the Commmunist Party of Cuba for hosting this important event. We appreciate heroic Cuban people not only for it great hospitality but also for en example it gives us by its struggle for its national souvereignity and socialism face to face imperialism and ist aggressiviness.

The last three decades in the Czech Republic have been marked by the counterrevolutionary overthrow of socialism and destruction of the common federal Czechoslovakian socialist state of our peoples. Means of production and natural resources, were robbed from the people and its state; they together with labor power itself were given at the disposal of monopolies.

At the turn of the century, the country was fully subordinated to foreign monopoly capital and its imperialist structures - NATO and the European Union. Together with an increase in the share of foreign capital in most profitable industries and banks, the outflow of the exploited surplus from our country also increased. The ruling class of the Czech Republic, the capitalist and comprador classes became co-responsible to the crimes of imperialism - starting with bombing of Yugoslavia, which was followed by aggressions against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and many others.

Currently, since the last election one year ago, a right wing government is installed with strong ties to imperialist centers. It strongly supports the dangerous development of imperialism in Europe and in the world. In the monopolist competition, in telecommunications, healthcare, energetics and military equipment are bought in large almost exclusively from the United States monopolies; competitors are excluded, at high prices and with doubtful effects. Step by step, censorship and political repression are enforced. We are facing longoing anticommunist campaign demonstrated for example by destructions of monuments dedicated to the antifascist struggle particularly to the Red Army and generaly by rewriting of history. Prices of living of workers and popular families are quickly hiking with the price of energy and food in the forefront. For the following winter there is great danger of lack of heating, electricity outages as well as the fall of a great part of families to poverty. The capitalist ruling class brings popular strata of our country on the edge of a catastrophe.

Never before was the intervention of the Communist Party in popular struggle so necessary. However Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is in a hard situation - it lost its parliamentary seats in the last election. This is a result of the long anticommunist struggle of capitalist power combined with mistakes of the party and weaknesses on organization side. These subjective reasons were reflected in extraordinary congress in October 2021 discussion and change in the leadership of the party. The 11th congress, which was held in May 2022, made the statement addressing current issues of price hike, lack of homes, warmongering, crisis, exploitation and lack of energy. It demands:

• Public funded construction of new homes, regulation of rents and limits on speculation with houses and flats.
• Rise of minimum wage as well as general wage level and reduction of working week to 35 hour without loss of salaries. Decent retirement pensions; education and health care free of charge.
• Self-sufficient agriculture; zero Value Added Taxes on basic food and services. Price capping on energy and fuel prices, possibility of limits on exports of scarce commodities.
• State control of production and distribution of electricity and storing natural gas.
• Fight with poverty and capitalist profits gained from it.
• Peaceful foreign policy, leaving the aggressive NATO pact, prohibition of foreign military bases.
• Enforcing popular rights, e.g. constitutional law of referendum - specifically about leaving the European Union.

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia on the congress concludes that the causes of the current crisis are systemic, it is a capitalist system and the future lies outside this exploitative and oppressive system causing war. The socialist society is the only alternative. Recently, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia entered popular mobilizations and struggles against price hike and against current government agenda, co-organize protests and participated in others.

Significant part of our activities is oriented to international issues based on the  struggle against imperialism and its wars, for peace and solidarity. We alvays experess our full solidarity with peoples that defend their sovereignty and national independence, resisting colonialism, occupation, destabilization, blockade, aggression by imperialism, like Cuba, Korea, Venezuela, Palestine, Syria and others.

Regarding todays conflict in the Eastern Europe the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia continuously emphasies its long lasting demand for a solution of the situation in Ukraine by a peaceful way and insists on the termination of all military operations that are in contradiction with international law.

At the same time, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is bringing into attention the fact that the guilty side for the current situation is not by far only the Russian Federation, but the United States, European Union and NATO military pact that are standing behind the Kiev regime that has been resposible for eight years murdering the inhabitatnts of Donbas. The actual confrontation cann´t be separated either from its historical roots, that go back 30 years, when the Soviet Union ceased to exist, resulting in the following expansion of NATO into the Central and Eastern Europe and state „coup d´etat“ on Maidan in 2014. The system reason of this phenomena is a promotion of economic and political interests of the super-powers and their rivalry for the redistribution of the spheres of influence, that is directly interconnected with military interventions, threat by using the force, imposing embargoes and interference in the internal affaires of the sovereign states. 

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is supporting all the initiatives leading to the peaceful solution of the Ukrainian conflict and safeguarding of peace and security in Europe in accordance with the principles of international law, Charter of the United Nations and the Final Act of the Conference for security and cooperation in Europe. On the long time base, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is striving for a new security architecture of Europe, including all the european states, aiming to stop further war tragedies on the continent.

Finally, Comrades, I would like to once again express our thanks to the Cuban communists for hosting 22nd International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties, the important event in our common struggle against the imperialism and war, for the world of peace, justice, solidarity and social progress – for the world of socialism.

Long live the international solidarity!

Long live the international communist and workers movement!