Intervention by Communist Party of Norway CC member Adrian Larsen Steinboe, recently elected leader of Communist Youth of Norway.

Comrades,

Many thanks to the Portuguese Communist Party for hosting this 15^th international meeting of Communist and Workers parties in Lisbon, in the midst of imperialist bloody assault on the Syrian people. The developments in the region express the intensity of the imperialist aggressiveness in the deep capitalist crisis, and the sharpening of the inter-imperialist competition for the acquisition of new markets and the exploitation of the natural resources in the region.

The recently elected Norwegian xenophobic and rightwing bourgeois government, and the social democratic parties’ aggressive political positions in this case fully support the USA/Israeli imperialist orchestrated “news” in the corporate, and state television medias. The Norwegian peoples are taught anti-communist, anti-Syrian, anti-Iranian and anti-“Hamas terrorist” propaganda. This is part of the psychological warfare, to make the Norwegian peoples accept the USA, EU and NATO planned war against Syria and Iran, actively participated by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.”

In Norway only the Communist Party, and the peace organization Norway for Peace are anti-imperialist and anti-NATO.

Our Communist Party and Communist Youth have a large and important task to educate progressive people learn to understand the intrinsic crises of the Capitalist system, how imperialism works, and NATO as the military tool of USA, EU and western imperialism, in combat with the upcoming new economic powers.

Without basic understanding of capitalism of today; imperialism and the intrinsic crises of capitalism, it is very difficult to understand what is going on in the world, and that another world both is possible and necessary, that capitalism is the problem, and socialism the only solution.

The capitalist crisis is deepening. The US Federal reserve is printing dollars and keeping interest rate below zero, to keep the capitalist economy and the international finance markets floating. The Troika EU, ECB and IMF cooperate with the bourgeois and social democratic governments in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain etc. and dictate their anti-people policy of cuts in wage and pensions, social and healthcare etc. This policy is drastically cutting wages to maximize profits for the monopoly capitalists. At the same time monopoly capitalists and finance oligarchs have transferred billions of Euros into their private bank accounts in Switzerland.

The fight for socialism-communism must be fought in each country. That is the knowledge of the working class experience summed up in our Marxist-Leninist theory: The National question. Capitalist deep crisis is global, and imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism, which means that the capitalist countries all are affected. This underlines the importance of our close cooperation in our International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties.

Comrades, we shall together on an equal basis in these meetings decide on a common “Final statement” from our meetings, based on mutual respect, a document that all can accept: No central guided document, decided on by majority votes. This will liquidate what we have reached till now, and split us, to the benefit of Monopoly Capitalism!

Norway is one of the richest countries in the world. The state has no debt. In a small nation of 5 million inhabitants the state owns a huge investment fund of more than 600 milliard Euros, and the fund is increasing due to high oil production and prices. At the same time more and more people are getting poor, and the gap between rich and poor has risen considerably. Because of social dumping, part time work, and work through private companies renting out deputies has become more regular, working conditions and incomes are deteriorating. Harder working conditions, pressure on efficiency has thrown many workers out of their work position, many around the age of 50, and many younger people with only minor disabilities. The formal unemployment rate in Norway is around 4%, but in reality when you include laid off workers living on small state allowances it is much higher.

CPN must engage more actively in the fight for the living conditions of people living under these conditions, and organize them to fight for their interests on an anti-monopolist, anti-imperialist platform.

Small and medium peasants in Norway are small on an international scale. The bourgeois elected government is attacking the bases for keeping up small farmer agricultural production in our country, in cooperation with EU. CPN has both historic and actual close links to the small farmers’ organization in Norway. We will seek to develop further our anti-EU/EEA common platform of cooperation in our common fight.

Unemployment is increasing in Norway today, due to bankruptcies, and firms moving their production abroad to countries with worse working condition and much lower salaries. Workers coming to Norway from EU-countries in Eastern Europe are working for very low salaries, and keeping especially young Norwegian carpenters out of work. Social dumping is difficult to fight, as the trade unionists are denied insight into companies which are not organized, and without tariffs.

Also in Norway increasing number of people from the working class is suffering the deterioration of their living conditions, being denied their most basic needs, such as a job, a dignified wage, decent housing etc. Monopoly and finance capital is intensifying their exploitation of the workers in order to increase their rate of profit.

Norway is not a member of the EU, but we are associated through the EEA agreement. Both bourgeois and Social democratic governments acknowledge and incorporate all EU directives into Norwegian laws, and thereby attacking the national trade union tariffs and the democratic rights of the workers and the people.

The only way out of the capitalist crises for the working class and the people of Norway is the same as in any other capitalist nation, by rupture and not by assimilation. We struggle against the monopolies and their power. The opposition must be organized on the grassroots level of the trade union movement, building and developing the people`s alliance between the working class and the social forces with objective interest in fighting the monopolies and capital, with stronger participation of women and young people. The direction must be towards the overthrow of the power of the monopolies.

Also in Norway we experience the challenge of a large xenophobic political party, now in government, who is efficiently serving as a splitting and dividing force in the working class, and give strong support to monopoly capital.

80 % of the Norwegian people are opposed to the EU and only 15 % support it.

The most important fight for the working class and the people of Norway is to win the fight for dissociation of Norway from the EEA association to the EU. This will be a decisive step for the working class and the people, on the road to overthrow the power of the monopolies in Norway.

CPN will work to develop understanding in the lower and most radical echelons of the trade unions movement to develop an alternative united revolutionary political platform, to build working class power behind the claim for Norway to dissociate from the EEA agreement with EU.

FIGHTING THE EEA-AGREEMENT IS FIGHTING CAPITALISM IN NORWAY - FOR SOSIALISM-COMMUNISM!