The Workers Movement must strengthen its Struggle Against Imperialist Wars
The declaration of war launched from Switzerland by the US-NATO and its close allies around the world against Russia, foreshadows the intensification of the conflict in Ukraine and makes the risk of a generalised conflict even more visible.
The so-called … peace conference was a mixture of threats against anyone who challenges the Euro-Atlantic “security” and “stability”, together with US-NATO commitments to greater support for Ukraine with money and weapons.
Russia’s non-invite, China’s absence and the refusal of more than 10 states to sign the final communiqué (Saudi Arabia, India, South Africa, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Brazil – it had gone as an observer – etc.) show the deep polarisation caused by the intensification of imperialist competitions, against the background of the US-China confrontation for primacy in the global imperialist system.
Switzerland was the prelude to the NATO Summit in Washington early next month, where the 32 member countries are expected to decide the next steps of escalation in the confrontation with Russia and China.
As far as the war in Ukraine is concerned, the summit will be a milestone, as the agenda includes increasing funding for the Zelensky regime with contributions from member states on a regular basis, reinforcing the Ukrainian army with new modern weapons, extending agreements to use “Western” weapons against targets on Russian territory, sending more “trainers” to the war fronts and equipping Ukraine with warplanes.
Already, war preparation has gone to another level: More than 20 NATO members are expected to meet the imperialist alliance’s target this year for arms spending of more than 2 percent of GDP, double the figure of five years ago.
This is largely due to the boost to the EU’s war budget, which reached an all-time high of €240 billion last year, with a further upward trend, while confirming that Europe has already moved into a “war economy”. It goes without saying that our country is among the champions, consistently spending more than 2% of GDP on armaments needed by NATO.
From the war fronts of Ukraine and the Middle East, and from the tensions escalating in all corners of the globe, with the Balkans, the Pacific, the Caucasus, Africa, etc. standing out, the clouds of a generalized imperialist conflict are thickening.
NATO’s criminal policy, on the ground of unbridgeable rivalries with the other imperialist camps, is a factor of instability and war, threatening billions of people all over the world. Maintaining fragile compromises is becoming increasingly difficult.
The fragility of the situation is also shown by the upgrading of NATO threats against China. NATO’s Secretary General has directly accused China of being a prop for Russia in the war in Ukraine and of “fuelling the biggest armed conflict in Europe since World War II”. He even threatened economic sanctions against China, which responded by telling NATO not to “add fuel to the fire”.
That’s the big picture, taking the developments of the last week alone. It is through this prism that the people must also see the dangers of deep Greek involvement in US-NATO planning, and indeed from frontline positions, which further turns our people into targets.
That is why it is the responsibility for the workers’ movement to step up our struggle.
Opposition to the imperialist war means first and foremost a struggle to disengage our countries from the criminal NATO plans, targeting the governments and all the war parties, the bourgeoisie and its international allies. It means solidarity with the peoples who are fighting the same battle in their own country. It means fighting to uproot the heart of the beast, the rotten system that breeds wars, imperialist competitions and exploitation.
It means strengthening solidarity with the heroic people of Palestine with new multiform actions and initiatives.
Because no matter how powerful the imperialist beast seems, hope lies in the struggles of the Peoples!