The undersigned Communist Youth Organizations, after the 17th Meeting of European Communist Youth Organizations, which was held in Larnaca - Cyprus, between 15-17 December 2023, declare and reaffirm that as the slogan of the meeting says: «The youth united, organized and militant, in the front line of the struggle! Against imperialist wars and oppression, against the capitalist exploitation. For the Europe of the Workers, for socialism!»

The 17th Meeting of European Communist Youth Organizations took place in a very crucial and demanding period for the workers and the youth in Europe. In this demanding period, the Communist Youth Organizations recognize that through our unity and militancy, the youth must be in the front line of the struggle for its rights and the struggle against capitalist exploitation and imperialism.

We, as the young people of the working class and the popular strata, are still being subjected today to the harsh consequences of the global capitalist crisis as well those of capitalist development. The weak capitalist economic recovery after the long recession of the previous economic crisis of 2008 was crushed under the weight of the new capitalist economic crisis of 2020, the measures taken to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, the turmoil in the markets, the pressure on international trade, including by the promotion of a trade war and the imposition of sanctions and the outbreak of new imperialist conflicts.

The absolute and relative impoverishment of the working class that is illustrated by the wave of inflation, the sharp increase in the prices of essential goods, coupled with repeated increases in interest rates, have crushed the living standards of the working class and the popular strata. Inflation hits the vulnerable groups of the peoples and the youth even greater. All of this is due to the monopolies, which were able to increase their profits even during the crisis. The dead ends of capitalism are apparent and the only way to overcome them is the struggle of the working class and the youth.

The aggravation of people's problems, poverty, inflation, unemployment, and the further intensification of capitalist exploitation, are the results of the policies pursued by the European Union and the bourgeois governments of our countries, which appear in all shades. These policies benefit the monopolies and the concentration of capital and intensify the characteristics of the EU as an economic, political, and military force against the interests of the working class and youth.

In Europe, the EU, as an advanced form of capitalist interstate integration, an imperialist alliance with partial contradictory interests internally, plays an important role also, in enforcing the anti-people policies in our countries, targeting the youth, the working class and the popular strata. Without any illusions on the possibilities of reforming the European Union in favour of the people, or in a change of the character of the European Union, the Communist Parties and Communist Youth Organizations of the EU member states will fight the upcoming election battle of European Elections and will continue to struggle despite the difficult conditions, strengthening the fight against the E.U. of capital. We must face the European Parliament elections as an opportunity to increase awareness of the class character of the E.U. and of its policies and to continue to reinforce our struggle for the rights of the youth, workers and peoples, for a Europe of cooperation, solidarity and peace.

At the same time, we support the right of the working class of every country on the disengagement from the alliance.

In this landscape it is important to valorise the role of the youth struggle in defence of their rights and for the answers to their concrete problems has had, pointing out the need to continue and intensify it. The youth must struggle for public and free education and healthcare, high-quality and cheap housing, rights at the workplace, against unemployment and precariousness, as well as for access to culture and sports, for quality leisure time, as part of the struggle for socialism. We stand by the struggles of the class-oriented Trade unions in the fight for better living conditions The struggle for real protection of the environment from the barbarity of capitalist depredation and exploitation, is at the same time a necessity.

The war in Ukraine has already caused great human and material losses and its consequences are affecting the whole of humanity. This war is a culmination of the processes that began with the dissolution of the USSR and the following use of nationalist sentiments by both local and foreign bourgeoisie. This situation did not start in 2022 with capitalist Russia's military intervention, which we condemn, but was prepared years ago with the US-NATO-EU support and backing of the fascist forces and the coup in the country, and can only be resolved with the struggle of the people for peace and a ceasefire.

The involvement of an increasing number of forces, both on Ukrainian land and outside, confirms concerns that the issue may become the starting point for an increasingly international military conflict. We call for an immediate end to all military action. The peoples from all the countries should fight against their bourgeoisie and all those who serve their propaganda and constructing their own way.

The deadlocks to which imperialism leads, the violation of human rights and international law along with the rights of the people for independence and self-determination, falsely justified as fight against terrorism, “liberation” and other lies, , the increased aggressiveness of imperialism  the intensification of imperialist interventions, , make it even more urgent for us to intensify our anti-imperialist struggle, the struggle against NATO, the E.U., any imperialist alliance, the bourgeois governments, their war propaganda and antipopular policy and to intensify the internationalist solidarity.

These developments are exacerbating the drama of refugees to a tragic level. Migrants and refugees, victims of imperialist wars, are facing a policy of repression, persecution, discrimination, and cruel exploitation. Capital holds the switch, which it turns according to its needs.  Increased refugee flows in Europe are being instrumentalised to reinforce Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, and nationalism in order to divert people from the class struggle. At the same time as the treatment of refugees by host countries is characterised by a brutal violation of human rights. The result of this, in a context of generalized impoverishment of the working class, is the creation of fertile ground for the reactionary forces, including fascism and the extreme right. Fascism is the offspring of the capitalist system; it is its long arm against the workers' - people's movement. We express our determination for an unstoppable struggle, with a clear class orientation, against fascism and nationalists, some of whom are trying to purify themselves through the so-called "legitimate parliamentary action" wearing the mantle of the "legitimate political party". We fight against the ahistorical theory of the "two extremes", the identification of fascism with communism, which is an official EU policy.

A special reference is done by the 17th MECYO on the ongoing bloodshed in Palestine, and the genocidal massacre carried out by the Israeli state in the occupied Palestinian land. We recognize that the escalating situation is caused by the ongoing occupation and illegal settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories by Israel and the continuous crimes that have been committed against the Palestinian people for decades. The murderous state of Israel receives support from the USA, NATO and the EU, and support by bourgeois governments of Europe in various ways and different levels. We also understand that this new blood cycle in the Middle East, can only finish when the longstanding Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories ends, with the recognition of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the right of the refugees to return in their land, and the freedom of all the Palestinian political prisoners.

In the conditions of the imperialist aggression worldwide, and of the full-front attack on the youth and the working class, class struggle and proletarian internationalism is the strongest weapon for our struggles to be won. The unity of the communist youth organizations on a class and anti-imperialist basis is as necessary as ever. The communist youth united, organised and militant, in the front line of the struggle against imperialist wars and oppression, against the capitalist exploitation, will keep on fighting to build the Europe of the workers, to build the world of socialism!

Larnaca, 29 December 2023

The Organizations signing the statement:

• United Democratic Youth Organization (EDON), Cyprus
• Socialist German Workers Youth (SDAJ), Germany
• Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), Greece
• Front of Communist Youth (FGC), Italy
• Communist Youth Movement (CJB), Netherlands
• Young Communist League (YCL), Britain
• Workers' Party Youth (WPY), Ireland
• Revolutionary Communist Youth League (Bolsheviks) (RKSM(b)), Russia
• Collectives of Young Communists (CJC), Spain
• Communist Youth of Catalonia (JCC), Spain
• Swedish Communist Youth League (SKU), Sweden
• Communist Youth of Türkiye (TKG), Turkey