"The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.

WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!"

K. Marx and F. Engels expressed through these irreplaceably valuable phrases in the Communist Manifesto the necessity of the revolutionary strategy and the coordinated struggle of the workers who live in different countries. They stressed the great importance of working-class unity against every effort to divide them on the basis of colour, language, culture, religious traditions, demonstrating that the working class of different countries have common interests and a common opponent, in all conditions.

The CC of the KKE, honoring the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Communist International (CI) (2-6 March 1919) stands with respect before the struggle of the international labour movement and codifies the basic conclusions of its history in the relevant Statement of the CC of the Party.

In conclusion, we could say here that the CI and the previous efforts expressed the need for the international unity of the revolutionary labour movement and the constant struggle against the bourgeois and opportunist intervention that impedes the international unity of the labour movement against the international class enemy, against capital and its representatives regardless of its base, its "country" of origin.

The internationalist struggle can effectively be developed when there is at a national level a line of conflict against the monopolies, the bourgeois power and the imperialist unions. When the CPs are not trapped in the struggle for bourgeois reforms and bourgeois governance, in the participation in and support for governments which serve the interests of the capital and through the constant struggle to defend the workers'-people's interests they establish strong bases in each country so that they can better coordinate the struggle at a regional and international level and concentrate their fire on the goal of overthrowing capitalism, regardless of the phase the labour movement finds itself in.

After the counterrevolution and the overthrow of socialism in the Soviet Union and the other countries of socialist construction, older opportunist theories have been reproduced and are added to the new ones that attempt to blur, to conceal the basic capital-labour contradiction, but also to undermine the principle of "Proletarian Internationalism".

Amongst other things, the theories concerning the "rich north-poor south", "Metropolis-Periphery", "the golden billion", theories that claim, for example, that the population of the powerful capitalist states have a good life and that only the populations of the capitalist states that have a lower or intermediate position in the imperialist system suffer.

These theories reflect the deep impact of bourgeois views inside the labour movement that reproduce and nourish opportunism and constitute a major retreat from basic communist principles, are an element of the ideological and political crisis of the communist movement.

Capitalism has never and nowhere developed evenly and in a balanced way.

The objective conditions, the different starting points as regards natural resources and economic potential, the advantageous or disadvantageous geographical position, historical circumstances, the antagonisms and imperialist wars as well the timing, frequency and depth of capitalist crises shape different rates of development. Uneven development is an absolute law of capitalism.

For example, the USA, Germany, France, China and Russia occupy a different position in the imperialist system, at a high level of the pyramid, while Greece is in an intermediate position. Each capitalist state has its own place in the system in line with its economic, political and military strength, but each is governed by the laws of the capitalist socio-economic-political formation, in its monopoly stage.

We are referring to the political power of capital and the capitalist ownership of the means of production, the profit criterion as the motor force for development, the social-class structure based on the separation of the capitalist society into a dominant bourgeois class and an exploited working class, the intermediate strata that experience the consequences of the concentration and centralization of capital- a section of them being destroyed or becoming satellites of the monopolies, are common features of all capitalist societies.

Marx in his inaugural address to the International Workingmen's Association, in relation to the development of England in the 19th century mentioned “If you want to know under what conditions of broken health, tainted morals, and mental ruin that “intoxicating augmentation of wealth and power... entirely confined to classes of property”. Everywhere the great mass of the working classes was sinking down to a lower depth, at the same rate at least that those above them were rising in the social scale. In all countries of Europe it has now become a truth demonstrable to every unprejudiced mind, and only decried by those whose interest it is to hedge other people in a fool’s paradise, that no improvement of machinery, no appliance of science to production, no contrivances of communication, no new colonies, no emigration, no opening of markets, no free trade, not all these things put together, will do away with the miseries of the industrious masses; but that, on the present false base, every fresh development of the productive powers of labor must tend to deepen social contrasts and point social antagonisms...”[1]

These crucial points made by Marx were confirmed and reinforced in the era of imperialism that Lenin analysed and has deepened in our period.

Today at a global level wealth is highly concentrated: the richest 10% possesses more than 70% of the total wealth in China, Europe and the USA, while the poorest 50% owns less than 2% and the middle 40% less than 30%.

In the USA wealth is at its most concentrated level since the 1920s. The richest 1% of Americans owns 40% of total household wealth.[2]

The concentration of wealth accelerated even further e.g. in 2018, as 26 billionaires have property equal to that of the income of the poorest half of humanity.

The planets billionaires saw their wealth increase by 12%, or 2.5 billion dollars a day in 2018, while 3.8 billion people who are the poorest half of the planet's population saw their wealth reduced by 11%, 500 million dollars a day.

The number of billionaires has doubled since the outbreak of the economic crisis in 2008.[3]

The New York Times in relation to the homeless mentions that the students that do not have permanent accommodation, staying in homeless accommodation or with relatives, number 114,659. This number is the highest that has been recorded in the history of the city more than double than the number 2010. Given that the student population of the city's public schools is about 1.1 million, this means that 1 in 10 students are homeless, making New York a champion in this field. There are neighborhoods in New York where 1 in 3 students are homeless (with schools in deprived neighborhoods in the Bronx with 44% of their students homeless).

110 million people in the European Union live under the poverty line. There are over 16 million unemployed while many more are in temporary or part time unemployment. In Germany, the motor force of capitalism in Europe, more than 8 million are employed in so-called mini jobs, with wretched salaries. The retirement ages in Scandinavian countries have increased to 70-74.

These examples and a lot of other data that record capitalist barbarity expose the baselessness of the theory of the "Golden Billion", "Metropolis-Periphery" and related approaches.

The capital-labour contradiction is intensifying internationally. The bourgeoisie both in the developed capitalist countries as well as in countries with a lower level of capitalist development, is increasing its wealth, while not only are they not satisfying the people's needs but the situation of the working class, popular strata is worsening, both in relative and absolute terms. And this is the case everywhere, all over the continent, including the "poorer states" of Africa, Asia and Latin America where the monopoly groups independently or in collaboration with international companies are accumulating enormous capital from the exploitation of the working class. Consequently, the united struggle of the communist and workers parties, the coordination of their activity, has no borders and must be extended all over the world.

In recent years technological-scientific breakthroughs and their application in production have been promoted as a panacea to the impasses of capitalism.

Robotic technology, artificial intelligence, modern information systems, the so-called 4th industrial revolution are being promoted. This is a new level of the development of the productive forces that leads to the reorganization of sectors of the economy, to an increase in productivity.

It is not the first time that the development of the productive forces is accompanied by the cultivation of illusions regarding the solution to the people's problems, detaching the development of technology and science from the exploitative capitalist relations of production, which is the framework that determines the orientation of the productive forces and puts them at the service of the bourgeois class, the profitability and competitiveness of capital.

The competition, for example, between the USA, the EU, the China, Germany, Russia for primacy or the strong presence in sectors of the new technologies, has as a starting point, the interests and needs of the major financial groups, the capitalist economy in general, and of course serve the military-armament programmes and the geostrategic aims.

Reality provides an answer to the main question, who benefits from the development of the productive forces? The monopolies benefit, the working class and the popular strata do not benefit. The producers of the wealth cannot enjoy the results of their work. The new services are very inaccessible, expensive and do not support the people's needs.

The new jobs promised by the defenders of capitalism cannot bypass the causes of unemployment. The vicious cycle of not assimilating younger sections of the labour that want to enter production, the dismissals, part-time and temporary employment, make their mark on all capitalist countries, stronger or weaker. The application of new technologies leads to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of (old) jobs and the new ones are created in conditions of greater exploitation, cheaper labour power and flexible forms of employment. Those that can celebrate are the various elites that fulfill a management role in production and are integrated in the bourgeois class.

With the most modern technological methods we have the increase of employer intimidation, the surveillance of workers' performance, the open violation of their private life, the restriction of free time for participation in trade union, political activity.

This situation answers the supporters of capitalism and the opportunist forces that fantasize about its "humanization" and claim that in the "metropolis" of the system the workers can live well and can reap the benefits of the technological discoveries.

Truly, the workers can live better with the utilization of the achievements of technology and science so that physically demanding work can be reduced, as well as dull routine work, so that working time can be reduced as a whole and free time be increased, with the satisfaction of the expanding needs of the people. But the precondition for this is the overthrow of the exploitative system, the conquest of power by the working class, the socialization of the means of production and scientific central planning, the construction of socialism-communism.

“... there can be no alternative but the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie or the dictatorship of the proletariat. Dreams of some third way are reactionary, petty-bourgeois lamentations. That is borne out by more than a century of development of bourgeois democracy and the working-class movement in all the advanced countries, and notably by the experience of the past five years. This is also borne out by the whole science of political economy, by the entire content of Marxism, which reveals the economic inevitability, wherever commodity economy prevails, of the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie that can only be replaced by the class which the very growth of capitalism develops, multiplies, welds together and strengthens, that is, the proletarian class”.[4]

The uneven development of the capitalist system and the states that constitute it with the monopolies at their core objectively determines the unequal relations that characterize the system and its states. They are connected in the framework of the internationalization of capital through relations of dependence and uneven interdependence, due to the differing levels of capitalist development, the differing economic, military and political strength.

In this environment, we see the problem of the ceding sovereign rights in line with the interests of the bourgeois class in order to have benefits from the accession to the imperialist unions and organizations, like the EU, NATO with the aim of maintaining their power and the perpetuation of capitalism.

In conclusion, we can say that unevenness in international relations amongst powerful capitalist states and others with an intermediate position in the imperialist system is a component of the functioning of capitalism which will be eradicated with its overthrow, with the construction of the socialist-communist society. Understanding this basic issue contributes to the maturation of the political consciousness of the working class and the popular strata is a part of the strategy of the communist parties. Because otherwise, by detaching the issue of dependence and uneven interdependence, sovereignty or independence in conditions of occupation, from the struggle for socialism, the strategic goal is lost and this is the basis for deviations, utopian solutions in the framework of capitalism e.g. with governments that manage its laws.

The theory of the "Golden Billion" and "Metropolis-Periphery" leads to deeply dangerous positions that end in the rejection of the principle of Proletarian Internationalism.

Marx developing further the principle of the Communist Manifesto, which called for the union of workers of all countries, in the inaugural address to the International Workingmen's Association stressed that "To conquer political power has, therefore, become the great duty of the working classes." and connected this duty with the necessity of the common struggle of the working class all over the world, noting that “Past experience has shown how disregard of that bond of brotherhood which ought to exist between the workmen of different countries, and incite them to stand firmly by each other in all their struggles for emancipation, will be chastised by the common discomfiture of their incoherent efforts.” [5]

In the General Rules of the International Workingmens' Association, Marx mentions that "the emancipation of labor is neither a local nor a national, but a social problem, embracing all countries in which modern society exists, and depending for its solution on the concurrence, practical and theoretical, of the most advanced countries; That the present revival of the working classes in the most industrious countries of Europe, while it raises a new hope, gives solemn warning against a relapse into the old errors, and calls for the immediate combination of the still disconnected movement."

The KKE in its 100-year history has rich experience and has made great efforts in order to respond to its international tasks. With its support of the October Revolution, participation in the Balkan Federation, the accession to the Communist International, participation in the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War against the Dictator Franco, the battle against anti-communism and anti-sovietism, the internationalist solidarity with the struggle of the working class all over the world.

The KKE in complex conditions that were formed by the counterrevolution took important initiatives for the coordination, common activity of the Communist and Workers Parties. With exhausting efforts, bilateral meetings and multilateral cooperation, through convergences and disagreements, was able to lay the foundations for the 1st International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties in 1998 in Athens and maintain this responsibility for several years, having significant contribution over time.

The KKE contributed to the creation of the theoretical journal of the "International Communist Review" (IOC), which hosts important articles-analyzes on topical issues of ideological-political conflict, oriented towards the creation of a distinct pole that will contribute to reconstruction and unity of the international communist movement. It contributed to the creation of the "Initiative of European Communist and Workers’ Parties" to co-ordinate the action of the CP of Europe against capitalist exploitation, the EU and NATO.

Communist and Workers’ parties, irrespective of the geographical location and level of development of the states in which they struggle, have to face Proletarian Internationalism as a primary task and to be distinguished in their internationalist obligations.

Of course, it is necessary to exchange views and joint actions on specific objectives, against the attack of capital and parties serving its interests, against imperialism and its associations, against the transnational imperialist union, the EU and NATO.

The support of the class struggle all over the globe is vitally necessary, the defense of workers' struggles and the mass condemnation of capitalist repression. It is an important task to confront anti-communism, with its accompanying distortion of history and the provocative equating of the monster of fascism with socialism – communism, which is the official ideology of the EU and the other imperialist organizations

Today, even more, the Communist Movement can stand at the side of the CPs which are being persecuted by bourgeois governments and face the legislation that forbids their activity and their symbols.

The experience that has been gathered demonstrates how valuable internationalist solidarity is for the communists of Poland, Hungary, the Baltic countries and other countries.

The Communist Movement can respond even more decisively to the American blockade of Cuba, to be at the side of the Cuban people, to defend the Cuban revolution. To massively condemn e.g. the coup in Bolivia, the imperialist interventions in Venezuela and in other Latin American countries, to express solidarity towards the people of Syria, to all of the peoples who are under imperialist attack, to the peoples that are living under regimes of foreign occupation, to strengthen the movement for the rights of the Palestinian and Cypriot peoples.

Communists equipped with Proletarian Internationalism have the strength to decisively confront Nationalism, the ideology and policy of the bourgeois class that aims at the creation of hostility, hatred between workers, between peoples of different countries.

Communists have the power to put to the working class, to the people, that in every country there are “two homelands”. The homeland of the capitalists and the homeland of the workers.

Patriotism that expresses labor, popular interests, in contrast to the interests of the capitalists, is bound up with Proletarian Internationalism and creates a shield of protection against nationalism but also against cosmopolitanism that expresses reactionary bourgeois ideology as well.

Cosmopolitanism is utilized by the monopolies and the capitalist states to expand their activity, to expand their interests, to pave the way for the internationalism of capital and their unfettered exploitative activity, for the creation and extension of regional and international imperialist unions, such as the European Union, NATO or other imperialist bodies that turn against the peoples.

Nationalism and cosmopolitanism as integral elements of bourgeois ideology and policy go hand in hand, they supplement and serve the interests of the monopolies, with the granting of sovereign rights which are a characteristic element of the bourgeois class in order to defend their class interests, to shield themselves from the development of the revolutionary struggle.

The interests of the working class are in direct contradiction with nationalism and cosmopolitanism. The peoples do not benefit from bourgeois calls for “geo-strategic upgrading” and competing for higher positions in the imperialist pyramid, or those calling for “national unity” that entail submission of labour and popular interests to those of the capitalists.

Today, the labor and popular struggle against imperialist wars and interventions must be developed even further, to strengthen the struggle against NATO, to dismantle the American NATO bases in every country, to not use armed forces abroad.

The CP in every country, the international communist movement as a whole, has the task to take the ideal organizational, political and ideological measures to prepare the working class and its allies to wage a constant struggle against imperialist wars with a line that connects up the defense of borders and territorial integrity with the struggle for the overthrow of the power of capital.

Today it is abundantly clear that the exchange of opinions and isolated joint actions are not enough. Proletarian internationalism does not only express feelings of solidarity of the working class, its reaction to exploitation, social injustice, capitalist repression.

The Communist Parties have the task to deeply comprehend and to make a decisive contribution to the realization that the content of the timeless principle of "Proletarians of All Countries Unite" is that the working class has the historic mission to overthrow bourgeois power, capitalism, and to build socialism-communism.

The CPs that adopted bourgeois positions regarding the end of the working class, refuting its vanguard role which arises from its own unique role in production and rushed to seek out other subjects, e.g. from the petty bourgeois strata, have negated the struggle for the overthrow of capitalism, for socialist revolution which is the very essence of proletarian internationalism.

Based on this they discovered a “new internationalism” with groupings of petty bourgeois forces, pushing the popular movement into the arms of social democracy, of opportunism and capitalist management, as is exemplified by the so-called “social forum”, the self-designated Indignados movement that was revealed to be just another breeding ground for the far-right fascist forces.

The so-called left parties, of old and new social democracy in collaboration with the mutated communist parties, formations, such as the “Party of the European Left” (PEL) have no relation to scientific socialism. They confront socialist revolution in a hostile manner and participate in campaigns held by bourgeois forces in order to slander socialism in the Soviet Union, spreading the poison of anti-communism, using the bourgeois method of “anti-Stalinism”. They support capitalist development and cultivate the delusion – utopia of humanizing capitalism and the imperialist European Union (EU).

These parties claim to represent a “unity of the left” with statements against neo-liberalism, one version of bourgeois management which is followed both by liberal and by social-democratic parties, in order to entrap the labor movement in supporting social-democratic management of the exploitative capitalist system.

They follow the same practice for the far-right and fascism, covering up the fact that it is a creation of capitalism, supported by mechanisms of the bourgeois state and is fueled by the refutation of popular expectations caused by the anti-people policies of the bourgeois governments, liberals and social-democratic, by the so-called left parties, such as SYRIZA in Greece, Podemos in Spain etc.

This experience is valuable for the communist and workers' parties and emphasizes the fact that those forces who have written off socialist revolution and have moved into positions of managing capitalism cannot reliably confront the far right and fascism. The supposed “anti-fascist fronts” that they support function as vehicles which reinforce bourgeois parliamentary democracy, the dictatorship of the monopolies. The one consistent force against the far right and fascism are the Communist Parties who struggle to overthrow capitalism and wipe out the causes that create reactionary forces.

The retreat of the ICM that followed the counter-revolution requires a self-critical examination and deep comprehension of the dimensions of the ideological, political crisis that it is facing, so that we can draw essential conclusions and to take the necessary measures in order to strengthen the CPs and the unity and the reinforcement of the action of the communist movement.

In this direction it is necessary to confirm basic principles that will provide an impetus to overcome weaknesses, to struggle against deviations so that we can lay firm foundations to achieve a unitary revolutionary strategy. Only through this process can proletarian internationalism gain the role that it deserves and to put its stamp on the developments over the next years.

The CPs are parties of the working class, its conscious organized ideological, political vanguard, its highest form of organization, a revolutionary organization that struggles for the conquest of workers' power, the dictatorship of the proletariat, for the overthrow of capitalism, and the construction of a socialist – communist society.

The CPs are guided by the revolutionary worldview of Marxism – Leninism and they have the obligation to make the greatest possible effort to assimilate it in order to undertake the systematic monitoring and analysis of developments, employing the dialectical – material method so that they identify in a timely manner the phenomena of the class struggle, generalizing the experience of the labor and popular movement, providing the working class and the popular strata with the necessary tools to carry out the class struggle, the clash with capitalism and the bourgeois class.

The CPs struggle for the unity of the working class, independently of race, national origin or language, cultural or religious heritage. Ideological readiness and vigilance, the ongoing confrontation with opportunism, are conditions for the effective guiding of the clash with the mechanisms of bourgeois power.

It is a fact that the organization, function and action of the CPs in their countries and internationally is quite far from the necessary level that the is demanded by the complexity of the class struggle and which requires a clash with capitalist exploitation, with imperialist hostility.

The duty for powerful, Marxist – Leninist revolutionary parties is urgent and it is imperative that they utilize the steps that have been taken for the regroupment of the communist movement and to lay firm foundations in every country.

The crucial issue is to clarify the strategic directions that were hit by opportunism before and after the counter-revolution and to master the principles that will repair the damage that has occurred.

First and foremost, to acquire a unitary conception that contemporary capitalism is the monopoly capitalism, imperialism, which cannot be treated only as a reactionary, aggressive, foreign policy, e.g. by the USA. Because this constitutes a detachment of politics from the economy, from the economic base of imperialism, the monopolies that are expanding throughout and dominating the entire globe.

The bourgeois revolutions, writing their own history, led to the overthrow of feudalism, but they have long passed. Our era is a period of transition from capitalism to socialism-communism, a time of proletarian revolutions, and this crucial issue is the beacon for the struggle of the Communists.

The character of the revolution, which is the central issue of strategy of the communist movement, is not determined with criteria based on the existent correlation of forces. It is determined by our epoch, by the necessity to resolve the basic contradictions between capital and wage labor, on the terrain of the maturation of the material prerequisites for socialism that were created within the context of capitalist development, the birth and gigantic growth of big businesses, the huge monopoly groups.

These rules have not changed because of the counter-revolution. The character of revolution in our times is socialist and this is of decisive importance for the course of the communist movement.

The struggle for socialism, with an anti-monopoly, anti-capitalist line of rallying forces, the regroupment of the labor movement and the social alliance of the working class with the oppressed popular strata can provide strength to the communist and workers' parties, to clash with capital, with the bourgeois class, their political and labor representatives.

In this direction, the effort to form an anti-capitalist consciousness can take on a dynamic, to prepare the working class and its allies for the socialist revolution that will become a beacon of struggle for the communist parties.

The uneven development of capitalism creates different conditions in the class struggle. Particularities in the economy, in the political situation, in the line-up of social forces that the communist parties have the task to estimate well. But also, under all the conditions and given all of the particularities, the class struggle remains, the struggle between capital and labor. Within the different conditions of each country it is necessary to serve the singular international duty, the preparation of the subjective factor for the socialist revolution, for workers' power, the dictatorship of the proletariat. This relationship shields the communist parties from right opportunism and dogmatism.

Marxist – Leninist theory and revolutionary practice, the irreplaceable experience of the October Socialist Revolution have proven that there is no in-between, no transitional stage between capitalism and socialism. The self-designated anti-monopoly governments rest upon the terrain of the system and perpetuate the power of the monopolies. The support or participation of CPs in bourgeois governments, cooperation with social democracy leads to the management of capitalism, it serves the interests of the monopolies, their power, it pushes the labor movement back.

The experience of the international communist movement and the KKE confirms that the working class cannot fulfill its historic mission if it doesn't have its own strong, well-organized and theoretically-equipped party, the Communist Party, ensuring its ideological, political and organizational independence under all conditions, without retreats under pressure caused by the developments which are linked to the danger of imperialist war, capitalist crises, the rise of fascist far right forces.

The CPs must draw lessons from the positive and negative experience of socialist construction in the 20th century, from the experience of the Soviet Union and the other countries of socialist construction, to deeply comprehend that the class struggle will continue until every form of social inequality is abolished, every form of individual ownership of the means of production, to draw essential conclusions from the counter-revolutionary overthrows, for the necessity of the clash with opportunism and the application of the laws of socialist construction.

The so-called “market socialism”, “socialism of the 21st century” or different variations that utilize laws and economic categories of capitalism as an element of socialist construction do not correspond to scientific socialism and the laws of socialist – communist construction.

China where capitalist relations of production have predominated for years now and where the Chinese monopolies are expanding all over the world, raking in huge amounts of capital, are the most characteristic example.

The laws of socialist – communist construction are objectively created and their violation leads to a restoration of capitalism. The co-existence of socialist and capitalist productive relations is incompatible. It is a recipe for counter-revolution, the restoration of capitalism and the people have experienced this in the most painful way.

Socialism is identified with the political power of the working class, the socialization of the means of production, central planning of social production and services, workers' – social control.

Today, the international character of class struggle is further enhanced by the rapid internationalization of capital, the growth of regional and international associations of monopolies and capitalist states, the sharpening of imperialist antagonisms throughout the globe.

Consequently, the international organization of the revolutionary labor movement is a necessity, and this is independent from the form that will arise from the developments and the course of the revolutionary regroupment of the communist movement.

This is the basic issue that must be dealt with greater responsibility so that the communist parties can be strengthened organizationally, politically, and ideologically and to create bonds with the working class and its movement, with the popular strata and the youth, to establish firm bases in sectors and enterprises of strategic importance

The KKE is developing initiatives to create the conditions that will provide an impetus for the adoption of a unified strategy of the Communist Parties within different forms, i.e. the “European Communist Initiative”, the “International Communist Review” and the aim to form a Marxist – Leninist pole in the International Communist Movement remains timely and necessary.

The slogan of the “Communist Manifesto”: “Working men of all countries, unite!” remains and inspires the struggle of communists all over the globe, independently of the level of development of the countries where Communist Parties are struggling.