The European Communist Initiative (INITIATIVE) has terminated its activity due to ideological and political differences, particularly regarding the stance on the war in Ukraine. The KKE and other parties of the IMCWP highlight the imperialist character of the war, while other Communist Parties support capitalist Russia and Putin's regime. The creation of the World Anti-imperialist Platform has contributed to the formation of an opportunist tendency. The termination of the INITIATIVE marks a setback for the European and International communist movement, but the struggle against opportunism must be intensified.
The erosive and undermining role of opportunism in the international communist movement has made its appearance again, this time by leading to the termination of the activity of the European Communist Initiative (INITIATIVE).
According to a statement by the Secretariat of the INITIATIVE, the “important ideological and political differences that have arisen over time and which have been aggravated since the outbreak of the war being waged between the USA-NATO-EU and capitalist Russia” were assessed during a last teleconference held on September 9.
In previous articles, a year ago, we highlighted the existence of a persistent and intensifying ideological and political struggle within the European and International communist movement, focused on the stance of the communists towards the imperialist war in Ukraine. Following the Russian invasion in February 2022, two major tendencies were formed within the communist movement worldwide:
The first, expressed by the KKE and other Parties of the IMCWP, such as the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP), the Communist Party of Mexico and the Communist Party of the Workers of Spain PCTE, highlights the imperialist character of the war waged between the US-NATO-EU and capitalist Russia. This war is part of the broader inter-imperialist competition between the Euro-Atlantic bloc and the rising capitalist powers, Russia and China. This consistent Leninist approach was expressed, among others, in a Joint Statement signed by 73 Communist and Workers Parties and Youths in 26 February 2022.
The second tendency is composed by Communist Parties that support capitalist Russia and Putin's anti-communist bourgeois regime in the “anti-fascist war” against NATO and Ukraine. Ignoring or distorting leninist principles, this pole denies the imperialist character of the war from both sides and systematically cultivates illusions and confusions about the stance of the communists in this very critical situation. Both the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) and the Russian Communist Workers' Party (RCWP) bear huge responsibility for shaping this opportunist front, as long as they have have been tied to the chariot of the Russian government.
The creation of the so-called “World Anti-imperialist Platform” (WAP), a mixture of various political forces, including Communist Parties, social democrats, political groups of dubious ideological origins from South Korea, Venezuela and Greece, as well as nationalists, has contributed to the formation of an opportunist tendency concerning the war in Ukraine. It is not a coincidence that WAP, seemingly led by a minor Party based in Britain, the Communist Party of Great Britain (M-L), has been engaged in outrageously provocative attacks against the KKE through blatant distortions and lies.
In the last teleconference of the INITIATIVE, the KKE referred to the erosive role of WAP: “Some parties of the European Communist Initiative participate in the so-called World Anti-Imperialist Platform, which supports Russia in the imperialist war and China in its competition with other imperialist centres. This creation engages in fabricated provocative attacks against some parties of the Initiative and especially against the KKE, while some parties of the Initiative post the provocative positions of the so-called anti-imperialist Platform on their websites.”
Unfortunately, as the KKE pointed out, “a number of Parties sided with capitalist Russia in the imperialist war. They justified and supported the Russian leadership and the invasion of the Ukrainian territory by claiming that this war is anti-fascist, opposing the position that the war is imperialist, expresses acute capitalist rivalries and is waged for the control of markets and wealth-producing resources, for energy and transport routes, leading the peoples to the slaughterhouse of war.”
Furthermore, the KKE's speaker underlined that “some parties of the Initiative are attempting to present China as a socialist state, while capitalist relations of production have long prevailed in China and the exploitation of the working class and of man by man, which is the very definition of capitalism, is intensifying. Chinese monopolies are leading in the international market, exporting capital and commodities, while China and the USA are competing for supremacy in the capitalist system.”
Based on the latest developments, we can say that the termination of the activity of the European Communist Initiative (INITIATIVE) undoubtedly marks a setback for the European and International communist movement. This cooperation space between Communist and Workers' Parties from Europe and the broader region, which was founded in 2013, had an notable contribution in the effort for the reconstruction of the European working class movement.
The end of the INITIATIVE is indeed a temporary victory of the opportunists and their masters. However, the struggle against opportunism must be intensified so that the consistent marxist-leninist forces, the actual Communist Parties and not the false ones, will come out victorious, both ideologically and politically.
- Nikos Mottas is the Editor-in-Chief of In Defense of Communism.