The League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (Serbia)
Original article from the International Relations Section of the CC of the KKE
https://inter.kke.gr/en/articles/On-the-International-Anti-Fascist-Forum-in-Moscow
Introduction
In the wake of the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism, the Second International Anti-Fascist Forum (IAFF), organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), was held in Moscow from 21st to 25th of April 2025. The event was attended by 450 delegates from 91 countries, representing 164 organizations. Many members of the International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP), as well as organizations affiliated with the World Anti-Imperialist Platform (WAP), took this opportunity to express a strong voice against the worldwide resurgence of fascism.
One notable party absent from this event is the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). Instead of showing solidarity with those who struggle against fascism (including the parties from IMCWP which KKE is a member of), it used this moment to yet again criticize not just KPRF or WAP (which has become usual practice up to this point), but also to spread numerous falsehoods regarding the character of modern day fascism and imperialism, with the ultimate goal of putting an equal mark between the imperialist and anti-imperialist camps. This time, the criticism was presented in the article on Rizospastis on the 4th of May, titled “On the International Anti-Fascist Forum of Moscow,” and signed by the International Relations Section of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE).
The motivation to analyse the aforementioned article is the fact that the current communist movement finds itself in the midst of an ideological struggle between opportunist and anti-imperialist forces. The leadership of the KKE, a party which has a rich history and still holds significant influence and authority among numerous communist and left-wing organizations, has been watering down and revising their political line for several years (some would say even decades), up to the point where, in practice, they completely abandoned any substantial struggle against both capitalism in their own country, as well as imperialism worldwide. Unfortunately, the incorrect political line of the KKE leadership tends to confuse and mislead many comrades both within Greece and internationally, who, due to a lack of proper theoretical education, can easily fall for half-truths and lies that are justified only by the strong communist iconography and rich party tradition. The Youth Platform produced this article to correct confusion among the comrades who are willing to conduct real day-to-day struggle against imperialism and capitalism, with an additional aim to provide a clear political line and explain the tasks of the working class in times when the battles of World War III are intensifying.
Allegations against participating organizations of the 2nd IAFF
Right at the top, the Rizospastis article uses the time-tested tactic of ad hominem attacks against some of the organizations participating in the IAFF to disprove its entire legitimacy as an international event. In the case of their home country, Greece, they didn’t miss an opportunity to present the “Greek branch of WAP” as an “obscure” organization, precisely because the KKE leadership doesn’t tolerate any of their compatriots who dare to criticize their harmful ideology.
It is also interesting that they were quick to notice the presence of “two South Koreans” who participated in the IAFF (it seems that Koreans started appearing even in the worst nightmares of KKE leadership), but they weren’t able to report the participation of the renowned Greek philosophy professor, comrade Dimitris Patelis, who is also a leader of the aforementioned “Greek branch of WAP” (Revolutionary Unification). Although it could happen that the keen eye of the article writers somehow missed comrade Patelis, it is more likely that they ignored him on purpose, as every mention of his name strikes terror in their heads.
The fact that a large number of communist parties, including the ones that hold power in their respective socialist countries (like Cuba or DPR Korea), but also parties like the organizer KPRF (which is the 2nd largest party in Russia), as well as numerous historians and activists took part in the 2nd IAFF is enough on its own to prove its legitimacy and significance. The presence of some non-communist (patriotic, progressive, anti-imperialist, etc.) organizations doesn’t change the character of the IAFF at all, as it is not a communist, but an anti-fascist meeting, meaning it can and should gather participants from a wider political spectrum.
The creation of anti-fascist fronts and the relation between strategy and tactics
In their critique of the IAFF, the KKE leadership is making a methodological error by equating and mixing communist tactics and communist strategy. For them, the creation of fronts (such as anti-fascist ones) somehow fragments the communist revolutionary struggle. Of course, they do not provide any substantial explanation of the mechanics of the aforementioned fragmentation. For them, any tactical move of a communist party, any alliance or front automatically means the betrayal of the communist ideals, as if the communist struggle is just a matter of maintaining identity, and not an ongoing, developing process.
Unlike the opportunistic KKE leadership, the true revolutionary communists should always have in mind the dialectical relation between strategy and tactics. While the communists should never abandon their strategical goals, which are the overthrow of capitalism and construction of a new, socialist and later communist society, they may and, more often than not, need to adjust their tactical approach to use the current contradictions within the society to fulfill their strategic goals. The antifascist front (including the IAFF) is not a goal in itself, but rather a tactical maneuver which can attract non-communist forces and direct their resources and energy into achieving communist goals. The same can be said about anti-imperialism, with an important remark that this front holds greater significance, as in the conditions of World War III the main contradiction is between imperialist and anti-imperialist camps, while fascism only serves to fulfill imperialist interests.
The critique of the IAFF Appeal
One of the main KKE criticisms of the “Appeal of the II International Anti-Fascist Forum” (the main resolution of the IAFF) is its supposedly one-sided view on the reactionary tendencies within Russia. The KKE leadership is quick to point out reactionary moves of the Russian bourgeoisie and to equate them with raging anti-communism in the West, and especially in Ukraine. For them, historical revisionism within Russian society (which the Appeal doesn’t deny and even addresses the need to struggle against “ALL FORMS OF DECOMMUNIZATION in state ideology and policies”) is the same as an open Banderite ideology and historical falsifications promoted by the Kiev regime, or equating Nazism and Stalinism in numerous EU parliament resolutions. They are also quick to forget prevalent Russophobia in all EU countries, not to mention the victims of Kiev fascists, such as those who were burned alive in the Odessa House of Trade Unions in 2014.
The KKE leadership ignores the fact that the Communist Party of Ukraine (once the 3rd largest party in the country) has been banned after Euromaidan, with the Kononovich brothers as the biggest symbol of persecution of communists by the Kiev fascist regime. Instead of pointing out the fact that the rightful uprising of the people of Donbass in 2014 was the first anti-fascist uprising in Europe in the 21st century, as well as the fact that one of the goals of the Special Military Operation is denazification of Ukraine, they are somehow, without any explanation, equating Russia’s financial and energy aid to Ukraine between 1991 and 2013 with the rise of fascist ideologies in the country.
The Appeal itself correctly points out that the cause of imperialist wars and aggressions, and subsequently the rise of neo-fascist forces and regimes, is the modern crisis of capitalism. It uses communist analysis to explain the war between Russia and not just Ukraine, but the whole Western bloc, and has a strong voice against the three decades-long revision and falsification of the history of former socialist states. All of these facts were somehow missed by the keen eye of the KKE leadership, as if they didn’t read the Appeal or, more precisely, didn’t expect their followers to do so.
The United front policy of the Comintern and the main contradictions of the World War III
Instead of providing contemporary solutions to the problem of fascism, the KKE leadership is quick to divert into the past and to correct “mistakes” that the 7th Congress of the Comintern allegedly made 9 decades ago. At that time, the Comintern adopted the policy of United Front against fascism, which implied creating alliances between communists and “democratic” forces both on a national and international level. The fact that fascism was defeated only 10 years after the 7th Congress, as well as the fact that during this period the number of socialist countries went from just one (the USSR) to around a dozen, proves that the Comintern at that time had a correct political line. These apparent results are, for some reason, not enough for the wise leadership of KKE, so they go even further into the past, more precisely to 1928 and the 6th Congress of the Comintern. KKE revisionism has more problems with the clear Marxist-Leninist line of the 1935 Comintern, compared to the one from 1928, at a time when almost all communist parties still had very influential Trotskyist and other opportunistic elements.
The bankrupt ideologies of Trotsky and even Kautsky, recycled by the KKE ideologues, are most clearly shown in their analysis of the contemporary world situation, which is also key to their understanding of the IAFF. While they falsely criticize the Appeal for “mechanically applying” the conditions of World War II to the modern geopolitical situation, they are actually the ones who are constantly going back to World War I to justify their opportunistic views. For them, the war in Ukraine is an inter-imperialist conflict, Russia is equal to the USA-EU-NATO alliance in qualitative terms, and even China represents a typical example of a capitalist/imperialist country. In their distorted view, any country that participates in trade or any economic activities with capitalist nations is itself capitalist and, according to the Imperialist pyramid theory, imperialist. This even includes proven socialist countries like DPR Korea or even Cuba, which, if their analysis is applied to the end, is not much of a victim of US imperialism, but an imperialist country itself. Going from this position, as well as from the aforementioned rejection of any fronts, the KKE leadership urges the working class to always stand aside and just wait for the “right conditions” and “communist paradise” to somehow (of course, without any explanation) magically appear. Instead of gaining real advances, the workers should either remain passive or they should only struggle for minor economic concessions. In this way, the imperialist system stays intact, which suits the KKE bureaucrats who largely live off the EU donations (for example, part of the KKE printing enterprise is funded directly by the EU). Thus, it is clear that, in true Kautskian fashion, the KKE leadership is using “pure anti-capitalism” to rid itself of any need for anti-imperialism in order to side with its own imperialist alliance in World War III.
Unlike the KKE, the genuine communist forces analyze the historical development in accordance with dialectical materialism, and, therefore, recognize the differences between World War I, World War II, and World War III. The 1st World War was truly an inter-imperialist conflict, where different monopolies fought for the redistribution of the world’s wealth and resources. However, the contradictions within the imperialist system at the time enabled the birth of the first socialist state, the USSR, which itself drastically altered history from there onwards. During the interwar period, in order to combat the rising communist movement, as well as to resolve sharpening contradictions of the capitalist crisis in their favor, the bourgeoisie in many countries, notably Germany, Italy, and Japan, adopted the most aggressive form of capitalism – fascism. The aggressiveness of this system threatened not just the socialist USSR, but even the so-called “democratic” capitalist countries, which eventually led to the alliance between them, in accordance with the aforementioned United Front policy. Therefore, the character of World War II is defined by its main contradiction, the one between fascist and anti-fascist forces. After the defeat of fascism and the advance of socialist and anti-colonial movements, the contradiction between the imperialist and anti-imperialist camps became prevalent. This contradiction shaped the Cold War, and is now shaping the ongoing World War III. Therefore, World War III is the war between imperialism and anti-imperialism.
The KKE apologists would argue that the aforementioned contradiction disappeared with the fall of socialism in Eastern Europe. Although it is true that, at the time, the position of the communist and anti-imperialist forces in general was weakened, this did not mean their complete defeat. Namely, the socialist countries of China, DPRK Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cuba managed to survive the “offensive” of the West, while the anti-imperialist movements such as those in Palestine, Venezuela, Yemen, etc., continued to resist the hegemony of the USA-EU-NATO alliance. Nowadays, even some capitalist countries are joining the anti-imperialist camp as well, with Russia and Iran (together with socialist China and DPRK) even forming the “Axis of Resistance” against the West. Of course, we as communists recognize that the capitalist forces within our ranks have their own interests for the anti-imperialist struggle that are different from those of the working class – however, we would be incapable or dishonest if we miss an opportunity to use the contradictions between the bourgeoisie to strengthen the popular forces and advance the struggle against imperialism into a communist revolution. Under the imperialist hegemony of the USA-EU-NATO, any resistance to exploitation, let alone communist revolution, will be suppressed, which can be seen in the examples of Libya and FR Yugoslavia, as well as the genocide against the people of Palestine and the 6-decades-long blockade of Cuba.
Since the main contradiction is the one between imperialism and anti-imperialism, the fascist forces and regimes today play a secondary role in the grand scheme of things. They are mainly used by imperialists to quell the resistance in the places where it is particularly strong – the examples of which are Ukraine itself, South Korea with Yoon Suk-yeol, the anticommunist hysteria in the Baltic states and Poland, as well as fascist riots in progressive countries like Venezuela, or even the activities of radical Islamists in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The contemporary imperialist bourgeoisie has learned from its mistakes before World War II, and today allows the independence of the fascist forces only to the point where they do not endanger their own interests. Therefore, the communists must view the anti-fascist front as an important one, but not as a goal by itself, as fascist regimes and forces will keep reappearing as long as the main contradiction, the one between imperialism and anti-imperialism, is not resolved in our favor. After the defeat of imperialism, fascism could potentially still rise in weakened capitalist countries (that will be in even bigger economic crisis than today), but without the support of a worldwide imperialist system, it would be easier for the popular forces to defeat it.
Conclusion
As we approach Victory Day, let us remember that the struggle against fascism didn’t finish 80 years ago, and that there is still a lot of arduous work and struggle ahead of us. While we remember and honor our ancestors, and also learn from their experiences and mistakes, let us not fall into the fallacies of “living in the past.” Unlike the KKE leadership, which has been left only with the glorious past of their party, and with no future to look forward to, we, the consistent communist forces, must not revise the past, but instead apply and develop our theory and practice creatively and in accordance with modern developments. Let us also remember that the struggle against fascism is incomplete on its own, and that only the communist forces can supplement it with the struggle against imperialism and eventually capitalism. Our just struggle against fascism will not be finished until imperialism and capitalism are defeated, until communist forces establish socialism worldwide. With revolutionary optimism, we are sure that the people will win the battle for humanity.
Death to fascism and imperialism, freedom to the people!
The people united will never be defeated!
С Днем Победы!
