Greece
Greece: At the forefront of Europe's class struggle
By Dimitris Fasfalis
June 7, 2010 -- Socialist Voice -- Workers in Greece today stand in the forefront of the converging European class struggles against big capital’s attempt to make working people pay the costs of its crisis.
Krise i Hellas – reaksjonær understrøm i Europa
Av Paul Kellogg
Den voksende massebevegelsen og åpningen mot venstre i Hellas er oppmuntrende.
Det er i den bevegelsen det ligger håp om at det en gang kan vokse fram et
virkelig progressivt Europa.
Olivier Besancenot: `We are all Greek workers!'
By Olivier Besancenot and Pierre-François Grond, translated by Richard Fidler and Nathan Rao
May 14, 2010 -- Le Monde via The Bullet -- The events in Greece concern us all. The Greek people are paying for a crisis and a debt not of their making. Today it is the Greeks, tomorrow it will be others, for the same causes will produce the same effects if we allow it.
Asian left parties: `In solidarity with the Greek people's resistance against austerity'
The following joint statement of solidarity -- initiated by Socialist Alliance, Australia -- has been signed by a number of left and progressive organisations in the Asia-Pacific region. If your organisation would like to sign on, please email international@socialist-alliance.org.
Joint statement from Asia-Pacific left and progressive organisations
May 13, 2010
We, left and progressive organisations from the Asia-Pacific region, express our solidarity with the resistance of the Greek people against the harsh austerity being imposed upon them by the governments of the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The proposed “rescue package” for the Greek economy by the IMF-EU has triggered a huge struggle that will have worldwide ramifications for working people.
Greek crisis reveals ‘progressive’ Europe’s reactionary stew
May 3, 2010 – The bailout of the debt-ridden Greek government seems finally to be complete.
Europe: Solidarity with the resistance of the Greek workers (updated May 9)
April 30, 2010
By Ingo Schmidt
Left Party Sweden: Combating `Fortress Europe'
By Billy Wharton
Greece: Right-wing government defeated, deeper radical left unity needed
SYRIZA logo.
By
October 14, 2009 -- Socialist Worker -- The results of the October 4 elections in Greece were a political earthquake that have created a new situation in the country. Certainly, the top news is the electoral and political defeat of New Democracy (ND), the traditional party of the right wing, which has been in power since 2004. With only 33.4 per cent of the vote and 91 seats in parliament (down from 151 in the 2007 elections), ND had the worst showing for the right in Greece since the civil war of 1946-49. The same evening of the elections, Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned from the leadership of ND.
The crushing defeat of the party has opened up a period of deep political crisis for the right, a crisis that by all indicators will be long lasting. There are a least four candidates to be the new leader of the party -- and they can't even agree on the manner in which a new leader should be elected.
Greece: Left prospects in the post-PASOK era
By Michalis Spourdalakis
In the last few years, the political alignments in the European Union (EU) countries have changed drastically. In the 1990s, social-democratic parties and centre-left political forces were dominant. Under the banners of “progressive governance” or “modernisation” these parties ruled numerous countries and dominated the political scene on the continent.
Today, it is no secret that after long years in government, these political forces, what some like to call the “governmental left” are, to say the least, in retreat. It is indeed no secret that social democracy is in deep crisis: the recent congress of the French Socialists proved that this party is going through a period of self-questioning over the issue of its leadership, but also that it had nothing new to offer or, as a conservative daily commented, it appears as if “it does not think any more”.
December 10-23, 2008 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal is publishing a number of declarations, statements, calls and articles from Greek left organisations in response to the assassination by Greek police of Alexis Grigoropoulos. Please keep in mind that the translations may be less than perfect, but due to the urgency of the situation they have been posted as is.
We’ll add more as we receive them. Thanks to ESSF and Rustbelt Radical for the initial compilation.
* * *