U-turn to the current defence politics to keep Finland out of wars, military exercises and Nato

18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties                                                                            

28 to 30 October 2016, Hanoi, Vietnam

“Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties, in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism”.

Speech by JP (Juha-Pekka) Väisänen chairman of the Communist Party of Finland

Comrades

It is easy to see the difficult and unclear situation of different international big powers and their alliances at war operations in the larger Middle-East.

Peace movement and we the communist and worker’s parties have to stand out for peace. There are no possibilities to resolve Syrian war with arms of any big power; Peace in Syria will not be achieved with US-guns, not with Russian guns, not with guns of the ISIS, not with guns of al Assad.  Peace in Syria will not be built with the guns and actions of anonymous war criminals hitting European cities.  We need now politics that firstly makes the killing stop and allows negotiations start.

Larger Middle-East is an imperialist hot spot place of action. Political elite in the European Union and in my country Finland, have silently observed and accepted how the imperialist powers are building up a new confrontation of interests also  in the Baltics and Scandinavia.

New permanent military troops and military vehicles in the Baltics make unnecessary confrontation with our closest neighbors the Russian Federation.

During current year 2016 Finland and Sweden have signed a defense cooperation pact on increased military collaboration with the United States and Britain. The newly signed agreement seeks to deepen bilateral military ties through the exchange of information and joint research and development in areas like cyber defense and training.  

New military cooperation pacts make unnecessary confrontation on our 1200-kilometer-long borders with the Russian Federation. Here in this insupportable situation Communist Party of Finland stand on the side of the Peace movement demanding a U-turn to the current defense politics to keep Finland out of wars, military exercises and Nato.

It is of high importance to be able to participate in the 18th International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties here in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Capitalist crisis and imperialist offensive - Strategy and tactics of the Communist and Workers’ Parties,in struggle for peace, workers’ and peoples’ rights, socialism unites us all parties in a collective class struggle against imperialism and its concrete attacs. Thak You for the hosting party and all participants for the important analysis on imperialism today.

I wish to end my intervention by a concrete action we have been able to do together with other antiimperialist and anticapitalistic forces.

Arctic Initiative

ARCTIC INITIATIVE was a joint initiative of the Environmental Working Group of the Party of the European Left and the Communist Party of Finland to invite  in Helsinki to an Open Forum; political parties of the European Left and  the Arctic region, activists of the civil society in Arctic Region countries and Europe, NGO´s, environmental – Indigenous rights and peace organizations, academic people,  investigators and researchers, artists, intellectuals and activists in the Arctic Region countries and Europe to discuss three topics; security, environment and human rights.

10 communist parties from the Arctic region;

Communist Party of the USA, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Communist Party of Sweden, Communist Party of Norway, Communist Party of Denmark, Communist Party in Denmark, Communist Party of Norway, Communist Workers Party (Finland), Communist League (Finland) and Communist Party of Finland

Participants from 13 countries

USA, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Belgium, France, Greece, Portugal and Italy.

Two political youth organizations

Left Youth and The Communist Youth League of Finland.

Speakers from three Universities

University of Lapland, Finland, University of Wienna, Austria and University, Giellakas Instituutti, Finland.

gathered together last June in Helsinki, Finland to discuss Arctic Region Security, Environment issues and Indigenous Rights  

Arctic Initiative took place in situation where International global neoliberal plans to exploit the natural resources hit the Arctic. Confrontation of the NATO and Russia is present. Indigenous rights are oppressed by the interests of the big capital.  Arctic Initiative stated that Time urges political parties, NGO´s, environmental – human rights and peace organizations activists, investigators and researchers, workers, artists and intellectuals to stand out, seek for collaboration and make a statement and participate in common discussion about environment-security and human right issues in the Arctic.

Arctic Initiative from its beginning stated clearly to function as a tool to make collective radical leftist argumentation in Arctic issues stronger. In the Spirit of Arctic Initiative several concrete initiatives were formulated for all participants to take the Initiatives as new collective tools for the work in demanding change in current political situation in the Arctic.

10 Initiatives were formulated and taken to World Social Forum in Canada for further discussion.

1.                         to support the movements and activities of the indigenous peoples for self-determination and to support the activities of the indigenous peoples against the capitalist exploitation of the environment and the natural resources of their territories.

2.                         to end collaboration with NATO, leave Partnership for Peace and the Host Nation Agreement.

3.                         to struggle for peace inseparable from the anti-capitalist struggle

4.                         to coordinate and strengthen common actions between all parties and organizations in the future

5.                         to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement on the climate

6.                         to promote the campaign “keep it in the ground” and demand as requested by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), of the States concerned to leave fossil fuels in the Arctic subsoil. 

7.                         to stop the military escalation and to remove the surface soil-, sea- and air-presence of national armies or a block such as NATO

8.                         to demand more public research on climate evolution, the preservation of biodiversity and on renewable energy systems.

9.                         to work for the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with the Arctic peoples and the respect of indigenous peoples' traditions.

10.                       to ask Europe to contribute to the development of a treaty, within the Arctic Council and together with indigenous peoples, similar to the Antarctic one, which would silence the territorial claims.

Such a treaty would ensure, in the interest of all mankind, that the Arctic would be used only for peaceful purposes and research, as well as it would not become the scene or object of international dispute.

Comrades

Together we are strong

Long live international anti-imperialist front!