NCPN statement on imperialist escalations in Eastern Europe

International Commission

The New Communist Party of the Netherlands (NCPN) strongly condemns Dutch involvement in the downing of alleged Russian drones over Poland. The deployment of Dutch F-35 fighter jets escalates the conflict in Eastern Europe and brings us closer to direct war with Russia, with all the possible consequences that entails. The NCPN naturally rejects the violation of the airspace of a sovereign country, but regardless of who sent the drones or why, direct Dutch interference is a further escalation in a war in which the Dutch working class has nothing to gain.

Poland has now asked NATO to activate Article 4, whereby the Polish government will meet with other NATO countries to discuss further action against Russia. In this way, the countries that are part of the imperialist alliance are being drawn further into a war that can only lead to disaster.

European industrial capital has an interest in a war economy and the investments that come with it. That is why war propaganda is being ramped up so that the EU working class can be prepared for further attacks on social rights and security. This is so that the freed-up money can be used to pay for weapons, conscription, and other military components.

All these events are taking place against the backdrop of various large-scale military exercises in Eastern Europe. For example, Russia and Belarus are conducting their largest military exercise since 2022 on Belarusian territory. Earlier this year, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States conducted exercises in the Suwalki Gap, the strip of land between Kaliningrad (a Russian enclave above Poland) and Belarus. Such large-scale exercises add fuel to the fire of the conflict and can have serious consequences in the event of provocations or mistakes.

Where imperialist powers continue to escalate wars, attacks are prepared on the living standards of the working class for the benefit of the capitalist war economy, and human lives are sacrificed for profit, resistance from the working class remains necessary.

That is why we demand:

• No Dutch involvement in imperialist interventions and wars;
• No Dutch soldiers and weapons outside our borders;
• No erosion of social rights for the sake of the profits of big industry;
• The Netherlands out of imperialist alliances such as NATO and the EU.