ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE MEETING OF BALKAN COMMUNIST AND
WORKERS' PARTIES

Within the framework of the international conference of
Communist and Workers' Parties held on 21-23 May 1999 in
Athens on the topic: "The crisis of capitalism,
`globalisation' and the response of the labour movement", a
meeting took place between six Communist and Workers'
Parties from Balkan countries.
At this meeting, each party informed the others about the
activities each developed in their own country to protest
against NATO's attack on the peoples of Yugoslavia and on
the threat of war that hangs over all the Balkans. There
was a common agreement on the need to strengthen
cooperation and coordination and for the parties to develop
common actions to confront the aggression and murderous
bombings of civilians by the US and its NATO allies.
In this direction, it was decided to make 2 June a day of
common action in the Balkan countries with rallies and
demonstrations using predominantly the slogans: WORKING
PEOPLE OF THE BALKAN COUNTRIES: ONWARD TO STOP THE WAR and
NATO: HANDS OFF THE PEOPLES OF YUGOSLAVIA.
The parties agreed to hold another meeting in September
regarding the further development of their coordination and
joint efforts.
At the end of the meeting, the Parties approved a joint
statement condemning NATO's attack on the peoples of
Yugoslavia.

JOINT STATEMENT

Athens, 23 May 1999

The attack by the imperialist military alliance of NATO on
the Republics of Yugoslavia is still under way. Thousands
of innocent civilians have been killed and Yugoslavia, a
founding member of the UN, has suffered severe material
damages.
There is a real danger of a new Balkan-wide war which could
evolve into a global military conflict of unforeseeable
dimensions.
The NATO air strikes which, in fact, constitute an act of
state terrorism against the sovereign Yugoslav state, are
taking place without the sanction of the UN Security
Council. The military intervention by the imperialist
forces in order to manage an internal conflict in an
independent state, will not bring about a positive solution
to the crisis. On the contrary, it will intensify the
conflict, to the detriment of all the Yugoslav Republics.
Today, on the threshold of the 21st century, progressive
humanity is witness to the way in which global imperialism
has replaced the power of right with the right of power.
For this reason, we propose to all Communist and Workers'
Parties, to all progressive, peace-loving, anti-war,
anti-NATO, and anti-imperialist movements, and to all
peoples, that they:
1. Denounce decisively the criminal military actions
against the Republics of Yugoslavia and take a resolute
stance in favour of ending this barbaric attack.
2. Declare their unreserved support for the people of
Yugoslavia in their heroic struggle against the imperialist
invaders.
Here in Athens, we call on all Balkan Communist and
Workers' Parties to join their efforts in closer
cooperation and to coordinate their actions in order to
thwart the imperialist plans to launch a new war in our
region.

Marxist Platform of the Bulgarian Socialist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party "Georgi Dimitrov"
Communist Party (of Bulgaria)
New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
Communist Party of Greece
Union of Communists of Macedonia
Communist Party of Romania