A political storm is unfolding within the Czech communist movement after Kateřina Konečná, former chairwoman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM), joined the right-wing Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament.
Her decision to sit alongside nationalist, far-right and openly anti-communist forces has provoked a fierce denunciation from the Communist Youth Union (Komunistický svaz mládeže - KSM), which is demanding that the KSČM leadership condemn the move and take disciplinary action.
In a statement issued on October 21, 2026, the Central Council of the Communist Youth Union unequivocally rejected Konečná’s decision, describing it as a personal initiative that had not been discussed with the KSČM leadership and was in direct contradiction with the party’s international policy, program and objectives.
The KSM pointed out that Patriots for Europe includes Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Matteo Salvini’s League, Austria’s Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the Czech ANO movement. It accused parties belonging to the group of supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza, imperialist aggression against Iran, efforts to overthrow socialist Cuba and historical revisionism aimed at discrediting the Soviet Union and the communist movement.
The organization sharply criticized Konečná for choosing these political forces over the KSČM’s traditional communist allies in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Italy and Cyprus, whose representatives participate in The Left group in the European Parliament. It recalled that these parties had expressed solidarity with Czech communists against anti-communist legislation equating communism with Nazism, legislation supported by right-wing Czech parliamentarians, including members of ANO.
The KSM further condemned Patriots for Europe’s anti-worker policies, its advocacy of lower taxes for billionaires, its close ties with Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, and its efforts to divide the working class along ethnic and religious lines.
In particularly forceful language, the communist youth organization described Konečná’s decision as “a clear slap in the face” to the KSČM’s traditional European allies and to communists in the Czech Republic who continue fighting for the party’s declared principles.
Most significantly, the KSM called on KSČM members to press the party leadership to explicitly condemn what it described as a “treacherous step” by its former chairwoman, impose disciplinary measures and draw the necessary consequences.
The statement leaves little room for ambiguity: for the Communist Youth Union, cooperation with far-right, anti-communist forces is not a matter of parliamentary convenience but a fundamental betrayal of communist principles.
The question now confronts the KSČM leadership itself: Will it defend its communist program and internationalist commitments, or tolerate its former chairwoman’s political alliance with forces historically hostile to everything the communist movement stands for?
From In Defense of Communism via This RSS Feed.