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Contribution of The Communist Party in Denmark |
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Quinta, 09 Novembro 2006 |
Communist Party in Denmark
Betty F. Carlsson. Chairman
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Contribution to the international meeting of the communists and workers parties, November the 10th to 12th in Lisboa on the theme: Dangers and potentialities of the international situation. The Imperialist strategy and the energy issue, the peoples struggle and the experience of Latin America, the prospect of socialism.
Dear comrades,
Allow me first of all to bring our great gratitude to the Communist Party of Portugal for organizing this meeting.
For almost 130 years, from 1864, Denmark has never been at war. This has changed substantially with in the last few years. Denmark is now at war in Afghanistan, in Iraq.
Of the more than 1.200 Danish soldiers, who at present are serving abroad, less than 50 are participating in regular, traditional UN-peacekeeping actions. The rest is part of an offensive so-called ‘peace-making’ act of war in NATO-arrangements and in US lead military actions. And now the government is planning to invest billions in new military fighter aircraft's that are not meant for defence but for active warfare far from the Danish borders.
Like in other countries the Danish foreign policy and security policy has changed a lot.
At the same time the Danish people is suffering from deterioration of the civil rights, which the working class has won through the history in the class struggle in economical, social, political and cultural areas, the so-called welfare services. The devastation is going on in health systems, in caretaking of the elderly, in kindergartens, schools and higher education, and in the public means of transport.
In the newly presented bill of the public finances for 2007 the government is boasting of how much money they will spend on ‘welfare’. But they are cheating. The fact is that the number of civil servants and people employed in the public service areas has decreased during the time of the bourgeois government. And while the economy of the Danish state is more than strong, a recent international evaluation has shown that the Danish hospital services now have declined from the leading to number 10 in Europe!
At the same time the neo-liberal policy of EU has been strictly followed in Denmark including attacks on wages and working conditions which were formerly negotiated in the collective agreements on the labour market, new reductions for the unemployed, etc.
There is coherence between spending more money on military and an increased aggressive Danish military engagement abroad, and the cut-downs in the social systems and a growing exploitation and suppressing of the working class. There is a close connection between the socalled neo-liberalism and war. Neo-liberalism is capitalism of today with growing suppression and exploitation, devastation and privatisations with the aim of securing higher profits and new areas of profit for the monopolistic capital. Imperialism is by its aggressive strategy showing the other side of capitalism: Offensive actions for new markets and possibilities for exploitation, new possibilities for more profit, often violent actions to secure the supplies of energy, warfare under disguise of a ‘war on terror’, ‘democratisations’, etc.
Neo-liberalism and aggressive imperialism are two sides of capitalism today. This is a severe and aggressive threat to humanity.
After ‘the cold war’ has ended and after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, several military reports concluded that the threats no longer existed, and hence there was no reason to maintain traditional defence systems. Therefore the possibility of a so-called ‘peace-dividend’ was relevant and so were the possibilities for Denmark to play an even more positive role in international politics, especially to the poor parts of the world, where the Danish assistance had gained a positive reputation.
But the opposite happened - starting during the social-democrat governments in the beginning of the 90es and later exaggerated during the present rightwing government. Both governments were and are deeply loyal to the policy of the EU, but the present bourgeois government is even more loyal to the US policy.
Just now more Danish troops have been sent to one of the storm centres in Afghanistan, the Helmand province. Even though it is said that the soldiers are there to build freedom and democracy we have noticed, that Danish officers have boasted with killing at least 60-70 Taliban’s and therefore are presented as heroes in the Danish press.
The changes in the Danish foreign policy were speeded up after 9/11, where the Danish Prime minister pronounced: ‘We will stand by the US - all the way’. And that is, what they have done ever since.
This has been done to such a degree, that the Danish foreign- and security policy today is totally deposited in the US, and follows Bush and his aggressive imperialistic doctrines all the way.
Denmark is now an integrated part of the ‘new imperialism’, coalitions ‘of the willing’, who are ready to follow every initiative from Bush.
As a part of this reorganization of the Danish foreign policy - from defence to attack - it has now been decided, that the Danish F16 fighters are to be replaced, probably by the American Joint Strike Fighters. 40 pieces of fighters will be bought in what will be the greatest purchase of weapons in our history. Properly this will happen in all NATO member countries. The government has already reserved 125 million dollars for a Danish participation in the project that can include Danish companies as co-producers of the weapons.These fighters are not meant to be used defensively - they are meant for aggressions far from the Danish borders. Our party has decided to launch a broad campaign against buying these planes, and here we launch a proposal, that we all organize a joint campaign in all NATO-countries.
Against this growing military engagement all over the world connected with the imperialistic policy of the US and new investments in the military industry, the communists and the peace movements must be offensive.
This year huge manifestations took, and take place in all the larger Danish cities against the cutbacks of the social welfare systems. First of all the Danish trade unions and the organisations of students, parents and relatives are the leading power in the greatest manifestations in the country since the late 80es.
Based on the active parts of the trade unions and the broad organisations of the youth and other popular organisations, the counter-power must be developed against the neo-liberalistic policy and the policy of war. And of cause the communists have a very important and difficult role to play, including the struggle in the ideological areas as the class struggle has more and more turned into an ideological battle as well.
We would very much appreciate if it is possible to connect the national struggles with an even more intensified regional, European and World-wide cooperation. To this purpose these meetings are very important.
On the regional level this kind of cooperation is elaborating between the communist parties of the Nordic countries. At the beginning of next year our party will initiate a North-European conference aimed at exchanging experiences and strengthening the cooperation between the fraternal parties on the strategy of the liberalists to attack our labour rights on agreements, our tax paid social rights ect. Which characterize our societies? As the conference in Lisbon this spring underlined, it is essential to strengthen our cooperation against the EU and its policy.
But we are more than willing to participate in a stronger cooperation against war and imperialism. A starting point could be the proposed campaign against buying the new aeroplanes at the expence of social security – a sort of a slogan: Military disarmament – social rearmament.
Finally we must pay attention to another serious consequence of the aggressive Imperialist strategy to act without any popular mandate: The strategy of fighting back to the alleged threat of terrorism by special legislation. Here we talk about he so-called anti-terror legislation, which attacks common democratic rights for all citizens.
When Denmark adopted the lists on the movements, the US decides, and later the EU adopted were terrorist organisations, the reactions in Denmark were huge. Democratic circles and the Left-Wing Movement formed ”Rebellion”, an organisation, which resolved to provoke the legislation dictated by US-imperialism, and proclaimed a public fundraising in support of two movements on the list of terror: The FARC in Colombia and the PFLP in Palestine.
The Minister of Justice wanted to start a trial on violation of the law, but the Columbian Ambassador in Denmark made demands so stupid, that the government did not dare initiate the trial.
Later Rebellion issued an international appeal to support the two movements, and put it on their homepage. This meant new public discussions and threats from the police, which made many political parties and organisations to bring the appeal on their home-pages. The police turned up one evening and confiscated the homepages and removed the appeal. The only homepages, which were not confiscated, was our the home page of our party and the homepage of the United left list, which had published it on the homepage of Parliament, where members of Parliament have a right to send it. But now after two years the Minister of Justice has decided to start a trial against the spokesman of the movement Rebellion and charge him with violation of the sections of the penal code, which were instituted after the new dictations on terror issued by EU and US.
We find it important to fight back against this, as it has consequences on the bourgeois democracy, obtained by the populations of many countries through several centuries.
This so-called War on Terror is seen by its strategists as a permanent state. This means, that what is called State of Emergency becomes permanent. Or put in another way: The difference between Wartime and Peace disappears. Distinctions between internal and external warfare vanish, i.e. the distinction between war and civil war is erased.
The state of emergency is called upon by the imperialistic international power. As the German judicial philosopher Carl Schmitt said: Whoever decides the state of emergency is sovereign. The innocent must live registered and under surveillance. Here a democratic tradition is overruled, which rests on the legal right to mistrust the state. Instead the duty of loyalty to the state takes its place and a pre-democratic relation to the State, which the democratic revolutions overthrew.
We are going back to these pre-democratic conditions in the relations between state and citizen. There is an enormous increase in the growth of “secret procedures” in the administration of justice, which regulates these conditions. The counsel for the defendant is not only excluded from knowledge of the acts of the case, but he can be prohibited against discussing the case with the accused. Kafka has registered this development with acute artistical foresight. Kafkas legal system has come true.
The charge against the spokesman of the organization Rebellion has created a huge public debate in Denmark. Legal professors and even bourgeois politicians are worried. The professors say it in this way: According to our constitution it is still up to the Counsel for the Prosecution to prove, that FARC and PFLP are terrorist organizations.
Well, we will see…..
We as a party and members of Rebellion - against the terror list and the so-called anti-terror laws - are pleased with the charge. Our provocation will now be publicly debated and tried in court. We will go all the way with appeals up to the court of human rights. But as we all know law and public attention will not carry it through. Public activity must be organized, and it is not only a Danish fight against Danish undermining of democratic rights. The anti-terror laws are the same in many countries, and there is a need for solidarity and activity in all countries.
The Danish movement Rebellions have called for an international conference on this democratic fight in Copenhagen on November 18.th. We have sent the invitation through the Solidnet. We appeal to your solidarity and attention.
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