Dear comrades,
First of all, on behalf of the Central Council of EDON and the thousands of our members, allow me to thank and congratulate the coordination of CENA and the comrades of the Portuguese Communist Youth (JCP) for organizing this webinar. Events like this, give all of us the opportunity to meet, even online, discuss, exchange experiences, and of course become wiser and more ready for our future struggles.
The selection of this topic for discussion, was not random at all. In an era when the militarization of the international relations becomes more and more intensive, the need for a strong, well organized, massive and militant antiimperialist youth movement is maybe more pressing than ever before!
Military spending in recent years has registered a large increase. According to the data of the World Bank in the European Union the military expenditure from 178.7 billion USD in 2015 has skyrocketed to 232.81 billion USD in 2022. Accordingly at the global level the military expenditure has increased from 165 trillion USD in 2015 to 193 trillion USD. Even small Cyprus, which is at the bottom of the imperialist pyramid, followed this trend recording an increase from 128 million in 2021 to 189 million in 2022. These increases are not only in absolute numbers but also reflect increases as a percentage of GDP. Both the percentage and increase (especially in a period of enormous social and health needs) betrays the conscious direction and the need of states to strengthen their military preparedness, has historically proven to be a harbinger of disastrous developments.
Militarisation is a dominant element, both at a regional and global level. In the effort to achieve global hegemony (and control of resources and corridors transporting energy and raw materials), the United States tops the table on military spending, while at the same time imposing on its NATO allies military spending of 2% of their GDP with negative consequences for the living standards of the peoples. The EU, in close cooperation with NATO, is developing numerous forms of military deployment, with the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) as the high point, in which the Republic of Cyprus also participates. Both Russia and China, but also regional forces, are taking part in this new arms race, while smaller countries are also being dragged into this race because of the increased dangers they feel.
The militarization of international relations and, by extension, armed conflicts destroy a series of narratives that with so much effort, or rather with so much money, were cultivated by the ruling class in recent decades and come to confirm once again the dialectical approach to society. Economic and sociological approaches that promote the self-balancing of society and economy are "going down the drain". Such approaches and theories had been promoted by the ideological mechanisms of the system as indisputable truth, despite their manifested inadequacy to describe reality. The period of relative peace - at least in the territories of the imperialist countries - was used to propagandize the end of the war by the same circles that rushed to "announce" the end of history. They were talking about the victory of diplomacy which, through dialogue, would resolve all conflicts. They were clamoring for the supposed effectiveness of international organizations and international law that would make interstate confrontations a kind of peaceful international diplomatic-legal dispute.
But the reality is that diplomacy, economic protectionism, sanctions and economic warfare are some of the first reactions of the losers of international competition. Whether it is the profits of monopolies or the geostrategic plans of the imperialist states that represent them, we know very well that any agreement, any treaty, any stability is only temporary and lasts only until the correlations shift to such an extent that the questioning of them by the parties who consider that they can now achieve a more favorable position in the international competition. Therefore, as capitalism rots, as its contradictions sharpen, as its crises deepen, the scope for compromise, reconciliation and "peaceful" settlement of intra-imperialist contradictions is limited.
The working class and the youth consistently and decisively opposes the war plans of the imperialists. Workers have nothing to expect from wars but dead, missing, poverty and destitution. The task of the antiimperialist youth movement is to fight decisively for peace, but at the same time to highlight the causes and the inevitability of war. The struggle for peace and the disengagement of each country and people from wars must be connected and end in the struggle against the system that gives birth to them.
As EDON, we continue our unconventional struggle to end the Turkish occupation of the island and to end the US-NATO plans in the region. We demand the withdrawal of all troops and the demilitarization of Cyprus. We denounce the exploitation of British bases in the various imperialist projects and fight for their dissolution and the return of the territories to the Republic of Cyprus. We oppose any discussion of Cyprus joining NATO or any NATO program such as the Partnership for Peace. We oppose the dangerous and reprehensible inclusion of Cyprus in military programs such as PESCO.
In closing, we want to express our international solidarity with all the workers and youth who are fighting all over the world for peace, the dissolution of NATO and all imperialist military alliances, the destruction of nuclear weapons and the end of imperialist wars and interventions. As EDON we understand that our most essential contribution to the peoples' struggle for peace is to keep Cyprus away from NATO and imperialist plans. We are committed to continue consistently and with all our strength the fight against wars and the system that gives birth to them.
