Europe

“Klassenkampf am Montag” – class struggle on Monday – that’s how the magazine Der Spiegel described the Monday demonstrations this summer against the government’s harsh measures of social counter-reform (the Hartz IV packet), which then spread to hundreds of cities across Germany. The packet of measures is known after the name of the chairman of the government commission, Peter Hartz, who also happens to be the head of human resources of the automobile giant Volkswagen.

This summer Germany was hit by a wave of “Monday” demonstrations against the severe austerity measures of the Schröder government. This reflects the growing polarisation within German society. There are moves to the left of the SPD, while on the extreme right the NPD is picking up votes. These are the first rumblings of the class struggle that is to come.

We received this report shortly after the storming of the school in North Ossetia. It highlights the divide between the ordinary people of Beslan and the authorities, and also the responsibility of the Russian government in creating the conditions upon which terrorism flourishes. The barbarity of what happened in Beslan has struck the minds and hearts of millions of people around the world. The unfortunate thing is that all this will now be exploited by the Putins of this world, and by the Blairs and Bushes too. This barbaric act of individual terrorism will not serve the cause of the Chechen people.

The events unfolding in Russia are of a dramatic nature. Gunmen are holding 350 children, parents and teachers in a school in Beslan, North Ossetia. The taking of these hostages is the latest in a series of attacks that have shaken Russia in the recent period. All this is a product of the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. Earlier this week there were new elections in Chechnya and another stooge of Moscow was elected president. This has not served to pacify the area.

It is clear that the Putin regime can't solve the problem of Chechnya. It is now slowly becoming a problem of all of the North Caucasus. The Russian army can't do anything about it, but Putin cannot put an end to the war either.

Spokesman Air Commodore David Wilby said yesterday NATO would consider the Serbian media part of Milosevic's war machine if it did not report what it considered to be accurate news. He added: "Serb radio and TV is an instrument of propaganda and repression. It is therefore a legitimate target in this campaign." (Morning Star, April 9, 1999) French armed forces Chief General Jean-Pierre Kelche said: "We are going to bust their transmitters and their relay stations." (Morning Star, April 9, 1999)

The Butler Report, the official inquiry into how intelligence sources were used by the Blair government to justify the war in Iraq, has produced nothing surprising. It is another whitewash, just like the Hutton report. What is amazing however is that it provides enough evidence to show that the government did indeed lie to the British people, that it went to war under false pretences.

Behind the recent split in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) lies the sinister hand of Putin. He wants to eliminate any kind of opposition on the left as he embarks on one of his most vicious attacks on the Russian workers. He will fail to destroy the CPRF, but the lessons for the left must be drawn.

This report from Athens shows how the Greek bosses tried to exploit to their advantage the victory of the Greek football team in the European Cup. The main speaker in the official celebrations was the head of the Greek Orthodox Church who gave a very nationalist speech. He was widely hissed and many people abandoned the stadium. It gives an idea of what is to come in Greece.

Last night Greece was one huge party after the victory in the European Cup. No doubt workers and youth feel the need to celebrate, for the social and economic situation gives them no reason to be cheerful. Fred Weston looks at the situation in Greece as it is developing after the defeat of the PASOK and the election of the right-wing New Democracy government

The vote for the German SPD in the recent European elections revealed a disastrous collapse. It is the price the party pays for pushing a Blairite agenda of cuts and attacks on the welfare state. The German workers do not want this. Large numbers abstained, rather than vote for the Christian Democrats, who also lost votes. On the left, the PDS recovered from its bad showing in 1999.

The vote for the German SPD in the recent European elections revealed a disastrous collapse. It is the price the party pays for pushing a Blairite agenda of cuts and attacks on the welfare state. The German workers do not want this. Large numbers abstained, rather than vote for the Christian Democrats, who also lost votes. On the left, the PDS recovered from its bad showing in 1999.