Europe: Anti-communist proposals protested

Hundreds of communists from 15 countries in Europe gathered Jan. 24 in Strasbourg, France, to protest an attempt by center-right forces in the European Parliament to pass an anti-communist resolution.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) did pass the resolution on Jan. 25. But the attempt to have the European government take follow-up repressive measures failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority.

Some 15 European communist parties have circulated a petition against the anti-communist resolution. The demonstrators handed a first set of 3,901 signatures to the president of the PACE, René van der Linden, following the protest action Jan. 24. Delegations from several European countries also handed over declarations, resolutions and motions with thousands of signatures.

The campaign continues to demand the withdrawal of this resolution, which begins:

“We the undersigned, independently of our views on the ex-socialist countries, appeal to the members of the Parlia mentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to firmly reject—at a following session of the PACE—the resolution ‘Need for international condemnation of crimes of totalitarian communist regimes,’ voted on 25 January 2006.”

The resolution is seen as an attempt to equate communism with fascism and to set up a situation where it will be possible to pass anti-communist laws.

That the capitalist parties have taken up such an initiative indicates increasing popular awareness of the failure of capitalism throughout Europe to resolve the problems of the workers.

For more information or to sign the appeal, see www.no2anticommunism.org.