April 2, 1957
PAPANDREOU ON EAM AND KKE: (From a speech in Parliament by Georgios Papandreou) «The debate on the (wartime) National Liberation Front (EAM)… has shown that EAM was not entirely composed of communists. The Communist Party (KKE) was its backbone, but the vast majority of its supporters were nationalists, driven by the desire for national liberty. It was a great mistake on the part of later governments to include all of EAM’s members under the KKE umbrella. During the occupation, given that the international front consisted of the United States, Great Britain, other democracies and the Soviet Union, it is not strange that in Greece EAM-ELAS was seen as a representative of the national resistance struggle as it was funded and armed by the Allies. However, while the sole purpose of nationalist elements in EAM was liberation and the functioning of free institutions, the Communist leadership wanted to prevail. When it became clear that the Allies would win, EAM’s sole purpose was to eliminate other national resistance groups (which) managed to resist these attempts… My conclusion is that the Communist Party’s demand for recognition should be rejected…»
