On behalf of the Communist Party of Sweden, the SKP, I would like to thank the KKE for organizing this conference. It is important for the communist parties in different countries to learn from each other, and it is an honor to the KKE that it makes sure that this happens.
One of the biggest challanges for the communist movement in Sweden is the actualization of the analyses of capitalism and imperialism – without a solid, revolutionary theory, it is not possible for us to engage in a revolutionary struggle. To this end, we hope that our contribution will be able to play a part in us understanding the world we live in.
The European Union, in which Sweden has been a member for a little bit more than 20 years, is an imperialist union, which has come into existance as a result of primarily the German monopoly capitalists. The same monopoly capitalists who benefited greatly from the policies of Hitler are now profiting from the European Union.
The European Union is dominated by the German monopoly capitalists, who have expanded forefully expanded since the counter revolution in 1989. For example, Volkswagen, one of the biggest German companies, alone controls more than 30% of Slovakia’s export. However, the German imperialists have learnt their lesson – they cannot challenge American or Russian imperialism by themselves, they need allies. In this situation, we are reminded of Lenin’s words in the article on the United States of Europe:
”[o]f course, temporary agreements are possible between capitalists and between states. In this sense a United States of Europe is possible as an agreement between the European capitalists ... but to what end?”
One of these agreements concern Sweden. The Swedish imperialists have also benefitted greatly from the European Union – it has allowed them to expand into the Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In these three countries, Swedish capital export is dominant, and it is interesting to note that German investments are very low compared to the Swedish investments and cannot be considered challenging to the Swedish investments. Likewise, the Swedish investments in for example Poland, where the Netherlands and Germany dominate, cannot be considered threatening to the German monopoly capitalists.
This tells us that the Swedish and German monopoly capitalists, in their temporary agreement, have agreed on a partition of northern and eastern Europe, in which the Baltic countries have been set aside for the Swedish imperialists to exploit.
In practice, this means that 27% of the foreign investments in Estonia can be attributed to Swedish companies. In both Latvia and Lithuania, the same number is 19%. Two of the four biggest banks in Sweden, Swedbank and SEB, control more than 60% of the banking market. In Lithuania, the same two banks control 59% of the market share and in Latvia, around 53% of the banking market is controlled by Swedish banks. When it comes to financial institutions other than banks, we can note that the stock exchanges in all three Baltic countries are owned by Nasdaq OMX, in which the biggest of the Swedish monopoly capitalists, Wallenberg, has a share of 11%. This is the same family that owns the SEB bank.
Another important Swedish investments in the Baltic countries are made by Ericsson. The company alone controls around 11% of Estonian exports. The position of Ericsson in Estonia is similar to the position of Volkswagen in eastern Europe, where that company alone controls more than 30% of Slovakia’s industrial production.
However, Sweden’s position in the European Union is not black and white; it is grey, as Sweden is increasingly coming under control of the German imperialists. The single biggest investor in Sweden is Germany, whose companies employ 72 000 people in Sweden. This means that the German capitalists have passed the American capitalists, and that Sweden is increasingly coming under the influence of German imperialism. All in all, between 20-25% of Swedish companies and assets are owned from abroad, and German investments are increasing – the latest example of this is the acquisition of Scania by Volkswagen.
For the Swedish imperialists, this means that the European Union is a double-sided sword. The EU enables the Swedish imperialists to dominate the Baltic countries, but it also poses a challenge to them in Sweden. However, that is not to say that the Swedish imperialists have lost their national base – the Swedish imperialists still have a firm grip on Sweden.
For us, members of the Communist Party of Sweden, this tells us that the temporary alliances between the imperialists really is a temporary one. Even though eastern Europe is divided, and the Swedish monopoly capitalists have received their share of Europe to exploit, German monopoly capitalists are still expanding in Sweden.
This situation also tells us that our primary enemy is to be found in our own land. It is the objective of the Swedish communists to fight Swedish imperialism, for the sake of ourselves, but also in alliance with the rest of the European peoples. It is our objective to transform Sweden, through a revolutionary process, from an imperialist nation to a socialist nation. We must deny the imperialists a grip on our own nation, and we must once and for all make sure that no imperialists can use Sweden to suppress and exploit other nations and peoples.
For the SKP, it is clear that it is not possible to transform the European Union from an imperialist union into a social union. These efforts are at best reformist, and cannot be part of the revolutionary struggle. A unity between nations is not possible under imperialism – we thus agree with Lenin, when he stated that ”[a] United States of Europe under capitalism is tantamount to an agreement on the partition of colonies.”
This does not mean that we are against the unity of nations, but we insist that this unity must take the form of socialism. Under capitalism and imperialism, a free cultural, political and social exchange between free peoples are impossible – only socialism, where the productive forces are under the command of the people, and are used for the good of the people can this exchange and unity between nations exist.
The Initiative of Communist and Workers’ Parties provides us with the foundation to struggle against imperialism and capitalism – the unity between the communist parties, on the basis of a dynamic and modern scientific socialism,, is vital for this struggle. Our analyses must correspond to the new conditions we face today, and we cannot be satisfied with only repeating what those that came before us have said – this is a good way for our ideology to stiffen and become useless.