On January 25th this year, we celebrated exactly 20 years of activity of our organization. On this January 25th, 1992 was not only the founding congress of youth of New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) but also reestablishment of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ), the organization of glorious revolutionary traditions that was never compromised and it was revoked in 1948. Immediately after the re-establishment of SKOJ it received considerable media attention, because in time of the fiercest anti-Communist hysteria depicted in the temporary victory of counterrevolution in the territory of the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and in the conditions of imperialist destruction of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the establishment of Communist Youth, which is for itself defiantly took the name SKOJ, was first-class sensation. Involvement in the work of SKOJ showed that members were neither “folklore”, nor “no-idea-nostalgic”, instead they were the young revolutionaries respecting the tradition of the movement to which they belong. SKOJ actively involved itself in the propagation of communist ideas among the youth in the country and linked with the international communist youth movement, which was crowned by the admission to the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) on the proposal of the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE). SKOJ registered as a political organization participates in the electoral propaganda, thus providing additional time for the Party in the media agitation. Members of SKOJ also participate in all NKPJ actions of putting up posters and participating in events organized by the Party either indoor or outdoor. SKOJ gets public focus after two of its members participated as part of the Yugoslav delegation at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Cuba. Since then, delegation of SKOJ participated in all international youth festivals held in a row, Algeria, Venezuela and South Africa. However, SKOJ gets particular enthusiasm in the work in early 1998, when launches its newsletter, and organizes its first street action. At the time, actions of SKOJ members are noticeable at the University of Belgrade, which is manifested by establishing Communist Student Organization (SKO), which opposed the propaganda spread among the students by pro-imperialist student organization under the terms of “fighting for democracy” agitating for the complete restoration of capitalism in Serbia. The results of reactionary “work” of these student organizations are unfortunately now visible through the enormous fees and retrograde “Bologna process” that was introduced at our universities. During the imperialist aggression against Yugoslavia the members of SKOJ have actively taken part in the defense of the country by informing the international communist youth movement on the situation in Yugoslavia under aggression and agitating for solidarity, which the sister of the communist youth worldwide showed. The members of SKOJ were actively involved in national defense of bridges and squares in Belgrade and some members of our Association were defending the country in the Army of Yugoslavia, while on military service. After the aggression against Yugoslavia and NATO occupation of the southern Serbian province of Kosovo and Metohija was over, SKOJ continues to actively fight against the propaganda spread among the youth pro-imperialist resistance movement whose many officials are now part of the bourgeois government, mostly in the ranks of the Democratic Party
After October the Fifth counterrevolutionary coup in 2000, SKOJ together with Party becomes the head of resistance to the pro-imperialist regime and participates and leads numerous demonstrations held in Belgrade. In 2008 SKOJ successfully organized visit of the peace caravan WFDY to Belgrade. One of the most successful actions of SKOJ in cooperation with the Party was a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the NATO aggression on Serbia. By choosing new leadership that followed in the second half of 2009 SKOJ is moving to a new offensive. Focusing on three main points of work, making workers, students and the high school students’ resistance movement against capitalism SKOJ increases the number of its members but also strengths its influence among the youth. Thus, activists of SKOJ are among the initiators of the creation of a section of the World Federation of Friends of Trade Unions (WFTU) in Serbia, which gathers class-conscious union workers. Also, realizing the reality of the current moment of activities of the Student communist organization in the new conditions of struggle are not updated, but SKOJ supports the creation of the Student Front (SF) as a progressive student organization that is fighting for basic rights of students with a focus on renewal and heritage established in socialism, which is free education. SKOJ supports the establishment of Students’ Front (DJF) as a combat organization that brings together a progressive high school youth. In the past two and a half years SKOJ has organized numerous events of which the largest are certainly European WFDY seminar held in Belgrade in August 2010, the annual conference of Communist Youth held in January 2011, a joint May Day march in the same year with progressive unions in which the Communist Youth performed under the banner “Marxism – Leninism tear down capitalism” and setting up a huge banner “NATO killers never welcomed” in Belgrade’s most famous sight Kalemegdan fortress on the occasion of the NATO conference held in June 2011 in Belgrade. After the death of General Secretary of our Party, comrade Branko Kitanovic late last year, SKOJ has taken a series of actions aimed at strengthening the party ranks shattered by this loss.
Of course that these processes in all socialist countries didn’t developed in the same way. Depending on the different socialist countries and different periods, class struggle took place more or less consistently. After the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia class struggle has continued, although the Bolsheviks took power. At the same time among the ranks of the Bolsheviks it deteriorated more and more, and at the first time it had an ideological character, later and conspiratorial. Various forces within the party and the state had different views on the further development of socialism. Many revisionist, opportunist, anarchist and dogmatic currents were gradually united and started plotting the fight to overthrow the current leadership of the state. Persons like Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev, Radek, and others had most dangerous role as leaders of various conspiratorial groups. Many of these groups were eliminated in different ways until the World War II, but at the end of World War II and the new economic conditions there have been new such groups, and especially after the death of Stalin these forces started to win again until they finally triumphed before 20 years.
From this brief history of our organization, we can conclude several key points. First, the development in the past 20 years has not been consistent and always upward. Our struggle pretty much had defensive character, attainments and defense of heritage and achievements of socialism, in the circumstances of the hysterical anti-communism, but also a fierce battle with the legacy of revisionism and opportunism expressed in Tito’s socialist model of development. The main structural framework of our organization can be formally, but essentially separated, namely: workers, students and high school students section. In our case, the development of the struggle of SKOJ has always been intrinsically linked to the work of our Party. As an komsomol type organization we are always represented the most vital part of our Party. For a number of reasons that will not be discussed at this occasion, in our party as well as many other parties in the former socialist countries there is a big generational gap. In these times and circumstances our struggle must be lead with a strictly offensive character, and in this process youth must be true vanguard of the vanguard in the class struggle.
