In June this year, there will be elections to the European Parliament in both Sweden and the rest of Europe. RKU opposes Swedish membership in the EU and therefore initiates a campaign to inform young people about how they are affected by membership in the union, with the goal that they actively boycott the election to the parliament.
–Sweden's membership in the EU has resulted in a ruthless attack on the rights of young people in the workplace and in society at large. Before EU membership, youth unemployment was around 5%, and today it is over 20%", says Sakarias Bergsén, chairman of RKU.
–Young people today have grown up in the EU and have no perception of what it was like without the EU. The goal of our campaign is to inform young people about what membership actually entails and to urge them to fight against the EU by actively boycotting the election to the parliament.
Since its formation in 1994, RKU has been one of the strongest voices in Sweden against EU membership. In the early 2000s, RKU was one of the most active youth movements in the campaign against the EMU. The question of EU membership won a narrow majority, 10 years later, Swedes voted no to the EMU.
–Young people today are unaware of the broad popular resistance that existed in the 1990's and that we saw evidence of in the EMU vote in 2003. The political parties and unions that previously criticized Swedish EU membership have now completely abandoned it. Instead, they choose to chase votes to get individual seats in parliament that have no actual ability to change anything. The parties have abandoned the issue or simply do not address it at all.
While EU-critical voices are becoming fewer and fewer, cooperation within the EU has become deeper with more and more issues being transferred to Brussels. The EU is moving closer to a "United States of Europe," in RKU's opinion, with common foreign policy and military cooperation, while tensions within the union are increasing. The issue of the EMU is also a constantly looming question, something Stefan Ingves reminded us of during the week.
–The EU has always been primarily an imperialist project, but its actions regarding Palestine have made the issue highly relevant for the majority of young people. When Ursula von der Leyen says that the EU stands wholeheartedly with Israel, we know that she does not speak for us. The union tries to claim that the interests of young workers in Sweden are the same as those of capitalists in Germany, something we know is wrong.
To promote the campaign slogan "Boycott the sham election – Sweden out of the EU!" RKU members and organizations across the country will mobilize and be visible in streets and squares, in schools and residential areas. This Saturday 24/2 marks one of three national days of action.
–In today's monotonous media noise about the benefits of the EU, it is more important than ever to mobilize to show that there are movements and voices that want to see an exit. With a growing criticism of capitalism among young people today due to the climate crisis, increasing militarization, cuts in the public sector, and restricted working conditions, we are convinced that more and more people see the crucial role that the EU plays in this.
–The EU cannot be reformed from within. It is legally mandated right-wing politics, and the only solution is to leave the union. For the sake of peace, for justice in the workplace, and an expanded welfare state. It's not about choosing the least bad option; it's about not legitimizing the sham parliament, it's that Sweden must leave the EU. That is the policy we stand for, and that is our boycott campaign.
Revolutionary Communist Youth is the youth organization of the Communist Party. RKU is a revolutionary communist youth organization that organizes school and working youth in the struggle against capitalism and for socialism.
Executive Committee
Central Committee of RKU
