Trodnevna Konferencija koja se u Beogradu održala krajem jula i početkom avgusta predstavlja događaj od velikog međunarodnog značaja.
Centralna tema trodnevne konferencije evropskih komunističkih omladinskih organizacija bilo je održavanje 17-tog Svetskog festivala omladine i studenata koji se održava svake četiri godine u organizaciji Svetske federacije demokratske omladine – WFDY, koja je naslednica Kominističke omladinske internacionale-KOI i okuplja preko stotinu komunističkih i progresivnih organizacija iz celog sveta. Cilj je da se koordinarira i sinhronizuje rad svih evropskih komunističkih omladina na organizovanju značajnog događaja koji se ove godine održava u Južnoj Africi. Ovogodišnji festival će se održati od 13. do 21. decembra u zemlji bogate istorije borbe protiv aparthejda, kolevci istaknutog revolucionarnog borca Nelsona Mendele. Taj skup dobija poseban značaj pošto se obeležavaju godišnjice nezavisnosti više afričkih država: Namibije, Zimbabvea, Angole, Mozambika i Gvineje Bisao, datumi koje će se obeležiti u okviru festivala, na kome će se odati i priznanje Kubi na nesebičnoj pomoći koju je u duhu internacionalne solidarnosti pružila borbi za oslobođenje afričkog kontinenta. To će biti prvi put da Južna Afrika organizuje jedan veliki omladinski politički skup koji će okupiti progresivnu i antiimperijalističku omladinu sveta spremnu da izrazi svoje ubeđenje u nastavak borbe protiv imperijalizma. Mladi Južnoafrikanci u ovom trenutku vode svoju borbu za besplatno školovanje i zdravstvo, za nacionalizaciju prirodnih resursa i za poboljšanje uslova života čitavog siromašnog stanovništva koje je većim delom crnačko.
Festival će biti održan pod sloganom „Za svet mira, solidarnosti i društvenih promena, porazimo imperijalizam!“
Trodnevna Konferenciji u Beogradu je prisustvovalo više od 30 delegata iz 25 organizacija iz cele Evrope. Tokom trodnevnog skupa mladi komunisti raspravljali su o predstojećem Svetskom festivalu omladine i studenata ali su i u organizaciji NKPJ i SKOJ položili vence na spomenik ubijenim radnicima RTS-a u NATO agresiji i na Groblju oslobodilaca Beograda.
Omladina je uvek bila vitalna snaga razvoja svakog društva. Sa svojom prirodnom kreativnošću, voljom za promene i snagom, zahtevi omladine za slobodu, mir, obrazovanje, posao, demokratska prava i društvene promene, uvek su igrali značajnu ulogu u borbi za pravedniji svet. Dok imperijalizam nastoji da zavlada svetom, usred jedne od najdubljih strukturalnih kriza kapitalističkog sistema, odgovorne za pogoršanje stanja omladine i za rastući broj mladih bez posla, povećavaju se beneficije eksploatatorskih grupa naspram čega takođe raste broj ljudi koji pružaju otpor, bez straha od kazne, blokade i imperijalističke okupacije. U trenucima u kojima se povećava broj vojnih baza i takmičenje za osvajanje tržišta i prirodnih resursa, sa neumerenim povećanjem vojnih budžeta, Zemlja se pretvorila u veoma opasno mesto za život. Imperijalizam je svakog dana sve agresivniji prema progresivnim, demokratskim i komunističkim organizacijama, što zahteva od omladine pojačan napor u borbi za mir. Učestale provokacije protiv progresivnih vlada u Latinskoj Americi i na Karibima, proganjanje studentskih i omladinskih pokreta u Kolumbiji i u zemljama Istočne Evrope, izjednačavanje komunizma sa nacizmom, napadi na UJSARIO Zapadne Sahare, zločini protiv omladine i naroda Palestine koje vrši cionizam uz podršku imperijalizma, nastavak okupacije Kipra i Kosova, agresija na Irak i Avganistan, imperijalistički pritisci na DNR Koreju ugnjetavanje domorodačkih naroda su ključni elementi za razumevanje imperijalne strategije dominacije.
Svetski festival omladine i studenata se organizuje kako bi motivisao i ohrabrio milione mladih koji se bore za mirnu budućnost bez imperijalizma.
Za svet mira, solidarnosti i društvenih promena, porazimo imperijalizam! Snagom naroda protiv moći kapitala!
Sekretarijat SKOJ-a
3. avgust 2010. god
Interview with member of the Secretariat of the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia and secretary for International Affairs of the League of Communist Yugoslav Youth (SKOJ) comrade Marijan Kubik (Mariyan Kubik) about SKOJ and situation in Serbia
Tell us briefly about the history of the organization. Which party inspires its political orientation?
The League of Communist Yugoslav Youth (SKOJ) was re-established on January 25, 1992 in Belgrade as the continuator of revolutionary traditions of the original SKOJ which emerged in 1919, and was abolished in 1948. SKOJ was revived in the form a youth organization of the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ), the only Marxist-Leninist party in the territory of the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, but it is also active as an independent political organization, therefore it is registered as such at the competent authorities. The SKOJ members make one third of the entire NKPJ membership. SKOJ is the only youth organization from this region which is registered as a member of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.
Which changes have your organization undergone in respect to the disintegration of Yugoslavia? You are active only in Serbia?
The Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) did not disintegrate, as some people argue and try to prove it. It is violently thrown and broken up. The collapse of SFRY was perpetrated by Western imperialism. The easiest way for removal of socialism in our country was inspiration of ethnic conflicts that led to a local bloody, fratricidal war. In their anti-Yugoslav operation, the Western capitalists profusely used the services of separatist and nationalistic governments. SKOJ will be putting a word for the restoration based on voluntary, equal and mutually useful principles of the union of all Yugoslav nations and national minorities in the territory of the entire former Yugoslavia. In accordance with such endeavors, SKOJ has members in all Republics of the former Yugoslavia.
How would you describe your relations with Communists and Komsomol members in Croatia and other former Yugoslav Republics?
Our relations with youth communist and labor organizations in the territory of the former Yugoslavia with whom we share the same ideals and pursuits are marked by respect and solidarity. The common pursuits and actions were confirmed during this year’s regional meeting held in Belgrade on July 30.
It has been more then 10 years now since the NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. Do the Serbian people still remember this aggression? What do people think about it?
Between 24 March and 11 June 1999, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its 12 million inhabitants were faced with the ruthless attack of the strongest military force in the world. Bearing in mind the human potential of the aggressor countries 764 million inhabitants, the ratio was 1:70. The territorial ratio was 1:234, and economic power 1:676. A comparison of the military might is hard to set, due to the complete qualitative and quantitative disproportion. In the NATO aggression on FR Yugoslavia, nearly 27.000 sorties, were made. More than 8.200 involved the use of weaponry.. About 2.300 strikes were carried out against 995 sites ("targets") in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A significant number of infrastructure facilities have been destroyed, more than 50 bridges were demolished The Serbian Broadcasting Corp (RTS) Building in the heart of Belgrade was bombed, causing the death of 17 RTS employees. The Novi Sad Radio-Television building was also destroyed, as well as several other electronic when the "Usce" business tower in Belgrade was targeted. 37 radio and TV relay towers and broadcasting facilities have been bombed. The telephone-telecommunication installations throughout the country were also raided. The list includes the TV tower on Mt. Avala, relay towers on Mt. Kopaonik, Mt. Jastrebac and Mt. Cer, the "Prilike" satellite station near Ivanjica, and the post office buildings in Uzice and Pristina. The aggressor planes bombed 53 medical facilities, and direct hits or aftereffects of bombing damaged or destroyed more than 300 preschool facilities, schools and tourism facilities. the "Dr. Dragisa Misovic" Hospital, the Surdulica Health Center, the Nis Clinical Center, the "Marija Bursac" elementary school in Belgrade, the elementary schools in Resnik, Batajnica and Rakovica, the "Jugoslavija" Hotel in Belgrade and the "Baciste" Hotel on Mt. Kopaonik are just a few examples of what the military structures pharisaically called legitimate military objective or collateral damage. The history of warfare will also mark the bombing of the embassy of PR China in Belgrade, when three Chinese citizens were killed. The overall damage to the economy and infrastructure is estimated at 100 billion dollars In the aggression on FR Yugoslavia, NATO breached dozens of international conventions, amongst others the convention on damages caused by oil pollution, on benzol poisoning, on the prevention of cancer risks, on transborder air-pollution over great distances, on the ozone layer protection, on the preservation of flora and fauna... Out of the 1.200 civilians killed 30 per cent were children, and out of the 5.000 wounded, as much as 40 per cent were the small ones. NATO aggression over FRY was imperialistic attack. The goal of western imperialists was very clear; they want to bring occupation troops on territories of Kosovo and Metohija. The least we can do is not to join, ten years later, the union whose war tactic rested at forcing Serbia into capitulation through making as much collateral damage as possible.
What position Serbia’s current government holds in relation to such events?
In 2006 Serbia was admitted to the Partnership for Peace Programme. In his speech at the session of the North Atlantic Union, the Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the admission of Serbia to the Partnership for Peace is only the first step which would culminate by the entire integration of the region into NATO. He marked the admission to the Partnership for Peace as the commencement of a new chapter in history of democratic freedoms in the South-East Europe. SKOJ acts in opposition to such policy. Neither Partnership for Peace nor NATO is place for Serbia.
Is it possible to talk about the Europeanization of Serbia? How strong is the impact of mass culture in contemporary Serbian society?
The advocacy of the European Union is evident at every step in Serbia. The accession to the European Union is presented as the final solution of all problems in Serbia, and each problem is interpreted as a consequence of the fact that Serbia is not in EU. Whoever is against EU is labeled as backward by the pro-imperialist bourgeois Serbian regime.
Is Serbia planning to join the EU? What is the attitude of its government in that regard? What do people think of such an idea?
In December 2009, the Serbian Government submitted the official application for EU membership. The opinions of Serbian citizens are strongly divided due to the heavy pressures by EU as well as the enormous propaganda whose purpose is acceleration of Serbia’s admission to an imperialist organization. SKOJ expressly opposes Serbia’s accession to EU. Let us only remember the EU’s role during the bloody fratricidal civil war in the territory of Yugoslavia the direct inspirer of which was EU itself backed by the imperialist United States of America and NATO. EU’s aim is not unification of nations, but the absolute liberalization within economic sphere which should ensure extra profits for the financial oligarchy which in collaboration with USA and NATO implements the imperialist politics all over the world. There is no doubt that the EU’s expansion towards the East should only enable the Western bourgeoisie to extend its markets for the sake of exploitation as well as to provide maximal protection of the invested capital in harmony with the laws dictated by the EU itself, whereby it gains enormous profit and profusely employs cheap and rightless labor force. The all capitalist “reforms” in Serbia, carried out on its “European path”, and similar “reforms” carried out in the former European socialist countries made us regress to the period of the bandit-like original accumulation of capital, transforming the economy into the peripheral workshops of multinational companies that sweep away, in the atmosphere of unequal powers and discriminating conditions, billions of Euros of profit to the imperialist West. Today, more than ever before, Serbia is in the firm hands of the foreign capital. The major part of the gross domestic product accounts for the private sector which is absolutely dominated by the Western capital. SKOJ does not call for closing, isolation and confrontation but for equal and mutually useful cooperation accompanied by mutual respect.
The perspective that the Communists offer is not the Europe united on the capitalist bases, but democratic, freedom-loving, SOCIALIST EUROPE.
What is your attitude in regard of the problem of Kosovo? What are the prospects for resolving this problem?
One of the most complex causes of today’s Kosovo drama stems from the impaired international relations provoked by domination of the USA after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Those nations who live in Kosovo must independently decide on all issues related to economic, cultural, political and social development. After the armory aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia NATO troops came to Kosovo and built the biggest military base in Europe – Bondsteel. During the NATO bombing, American airplanes discharged to the territory of Kosovo about ten millions of impoverished uranium. According to Pristina journal “Ekspres”, Kosovo took over the leading position in the region in regard of the number of cancer-caused deaths, since around 5,000 people annually dies of cancer due to the increased radioactivity, which is tree times more than it was the case before the war. What illustrates the seriousness of this problem with impoverished uranium is the fact that out of 225 Italian soldiers who took part in the KFOR mission, 45 of them died of malign diseases, whereas 25 of them got children with genetic abnormalities. About 73 percent of working population is unemployed, and more than a half of the unemployed is under 35. Kosovo and Metohija produce almost three times less electric power than before 1999. Factories almost do not operate at all, or utilize only 10 percent of its capacities. The major problems of Kosovo are organized crime and corruption as well as endangered state of human rights. The major industries are in hands of the NATO occupier which freely disposes of and collect profit from what was created in the best interest of the peoples of Kosovo Metohija in the last five decades. The current occupation is not in the long-term and real interests of the peoples of Kosovo and Metohija, it is only in the interest of imperialist-expansionist goals of NATO. The goals of various international “peace” committees’ policies is further intensification of the existing state on basis of the principle “divide and conquer”. Peace, unity and progress of all Balkan nations are possible only if the imperialism leaves the historical-political scene. Peace, unity and progress of all Balkan nations will be possible only when the imperialist domination, guided by the dictum “divide and conquer” gives way to the unity of working people of the Balkans, their resistance and collapse of the imperialist, neocolonial gives. SKOJ is of the opinion that Kosovo and Metohija are integral part of Serbia which is occupied by the Western imperialism. Therefore, SKOJ demands that the occupation NATO troops leave Kosovo and Metohija.
Does your organization operate in Kosovo?
SKOJ and NKPJ have their members on Kosovo. There are Albanians among them as well. Many of them were the victims of repression due to their pro-Yugoslav orientation in the last two decades.
What is the role of the Church today, is it progressive or reactionary?
Serbian Orthodox Church in this moment is primarily recognizable as a dominant political force in continual partnership with power structures. It is part of what ecclesiastical history identifies as ‘the union between throne and altar’. The Church is present today in all pores of the public life. The leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church supported in 2000 the opposition in its fight against Milosevic, it has the decisive impact on introduction of religious teaching at school, and it has its representatives in the Republic Broadcasting Agency. The Serbian Orthodox Church belongs to circle of conservative societies, it is traditionally fused with the state government and it spent ages praying for the emperor, and obeying the Emperor. Accordingly the Serbian Orthodox Church does not have a single answer to the global-scale contemporary problems which it can provide as an official church. The Serbian Orthodox Church, that used to be reputed for ages as a poor church in terms of material resources, for the first time in its history is not poor, and is exposed to numerous financial scandals and corruption. Bourgeois political structures in Serbia accepted the Church wholeheartedly as a pillar of its power and the Church decided to play along. Today the Serbian Orthodox Church defends the quisling chetnik movement, presenting it as a victim of Communism. In 2003, the Serbian Orthodox Church canonized Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic. This canonization was carried out on the basis of a purely political principle: Nikolaj Velimirović was an ideologist of the movement of Dimitrije Ljotic who openly, with riffle in his hands, was fighting four years on the Nazi’s side in Serbia. When in April 1945 Hitler committed suicide, Velimirovic still called for the “fight against plutocratic West, Jews and masons”. His books contain the most drastic anti-Semitic references. Not only was he a chauvinist and anti-Communist but an ardent follower of Nazis as well. For instance, Nikolaj Velimirovic said the following about Hitler: “Nevertheless, we must give full credit to the present German leader who as a common craftsman and one of the ordinary people realized that the nationalism without religion is an abnormality, a cold and frail mechanism. Now in the 20th century, he came to the idea of Saint Sava, and although an amateur he undertook the most important action for a nation, an action that befits only saints, geniuses and heroes”.
How does once ruling party - the Socialist Party of Serbia - look now? How would you describe its political course?
In July the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) celebrated two decades of its operation. After having spent three years and a half in opposition after the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, in 2004 socialists supported the minority government of Vojislav Kostunica, and after the parliamentary elections in 2008, it became part of the present government. The President of SPS is the first Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs, and the Party has three ministers in the government: for infrastructure, energy and mining, and education. The President of Serbia and Democratic Party Boris Tadić congratulated the Socialist Party of Serbia on “the first 20 years” and wished to this Party unlimited duration. Tadić said that the historical compromise between the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party of Serbia rests at his agreement with the SPS leader Ivica Dačić in regard of Serbia’a membership in the European Union. SKOJ does not approve the political agenda that SPS has been pursuing since it joined the government formed by the pro-imperialist parties headed by the Democratic Party. At the moment SKOJ does not make any essential difference between the activities of the Socialist Party of Serbia and pro-imperialist parties headed by the Democratic Party.
Relations between Serbia and Russia?
Since 1948 and the clash between Tito and Stalin, constant reminding about the threat of so-called Soviet occupation was in full force. Such a politics was further continued by the pro-imperialist opposition from the 1990s, i.e. current government which is entirely West-oriented. Nevertheless, people believe that the positive changes in Russia will lead to changes in Serbia which will radically transform the present situation.
Can you extend some wishes to the Russian young communists?
Dear comrades, on behalf of the League of the Communist Yugoslav Youth – SKOJ, I wish to extend combative, revolutionary greetings and best wishes for new victories. The temporary collapse of socialism in Europe in the 1990s for a moment stopped the progress of our planet; however, thanks to the communists from all over the world and socialist countries, the success of the capitalist globalization was only temporary. We are convinced that that the wild anticommunism will not terminate our struggle for socialism, but, on the contrary, will only help us unite even more and lead us to the final victory.