European Workers Party

The European Workers' Party (Europeiska arbetarpartiet - EAP) is a very small political party in Sweden without parliamentary representation. The party is the Swedish section of the LaRouche Movement.

History

The movement was established in 1974 when two American LaRouchians, William "Bill" Jones and Michael Vale, began to gather interests for its ideas. Bill Jones had lived in Sweden since 1968, appearing to be a Vietnam deserter. The movement, under the name ELC, (European Labour Committees), started to build its organization around the young Swedish student Kerstin Tegin, later Tegin-Gaddy, and her to-be American husband Clifford Gaddy. However, the party never became much bigger than a handful of people. During this period, Sweden was one of the few countries that openly harboured and encouraged American GIs in Vietnam to defect, and it is often insinuated that EAP was set up in Sweden by the CIA in order to label the defectors as left-wing extremists^[1].

LaRouche movement

Helga Zepp-LaRouche Lyndon LaRouche Views of Lyndon LaRouche United States v. LaRouche U.S. Presidential campaigns Political organizations Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo) Citizens Electoral Council European Workers Party LaRouche movement LaRouche Youth Movement National Caucus of Labor Committees Schiller Institute People Amelia Boynton Robinson Anton Chaitkin Jacques Cheminade Janice Hart Jeremiah Duggan Kenneth Kronberg Michael Billington

Defunct

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North American Labour Party

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In two Swedish Government Official Reports from 2002, which are official Swedish Government documents, the CIA link of the EAP is substantiated. In SOU 2002:87, Swedish Security Service and Military intelligence constitutional protection operations since 1945, the following is found:

The Swedish Security Service put in the mid '70s EAP together with other international communist organizations, but did also state that the organization was rather diffuse regarding its size and its aims. The Swedish Security Service speculated whether the operations of the EAP were financed by the USA, the Soviet Union, China or an Arab country. Its activities were deemed to be focused on meeting disturbance, slander, defamation, violence and threats of violence. In the mid '80s the party was perceived as pro-American and increasingly right-wing leaning.

Further, in SOU 2002:91, The threat from the Left, the following can be read:

It should be noted that several of the vocal early members of the ELC/EAP in Sweden had arrived in Sweden as Vietnam deserters. In Sweden, as well as in other countries, these were organized in the American Deserters Committee (ADC), that - like the Labor Committees of LaRouche - was a subdivision of Students for a Democratic Society. One of these deserters (the above mentioned William "Bill" Jones), who later was to attain a leading position within the EAP, was already in 1968 pointed out as a probable CIA agent by the FNL group movement (Swedish anti-war/solidarity with Vietnam groups).

The party originally used a lot of leftist terminology, but since of the beginning 1980s it has generally been characterized it as a rightwing extremist organization. (See quotes above). The EAP launched campaigns based on its "extreme Palme hatred"^[2] against the Swedish Prime Minister. This is described in the above mentioned SOU 2002:91:

It became increasingly common in the media to characterize the EAP as "fascist" or "right-wing extremist". One reason for this was the pronounced anti-sovietism [of the party], its extreme Palme hatred, and its adherence to anti-semitic jargon and conspiration theories.

After the Olof Palme assassination in 1986, the group was investigated by the police for a short while, suspected for having something to do with the murder, although this theory was soon dropped. According to LaRouche researcher Dean Andromidas, there was a radio broadcast on Swedish National Radio in August of 1992 by Herbert Brehmer, former leading operative of the East German Stasi and author of Auftrag: Irreführung. Wie die Stasi Politik im Westen machte. Andromidas said that Brehmer "explained how his Department 10, responsible for disinformation, put into motion a preplanned disinformation operation to pin the blame for the murder of Palme on LaRouche and his Swedish associates." [1] According to another LaRouche associate, Jeffrey Steinberg, South African interests lie behind the murder and the blame for the murder on EAP. [2] LaRouche himself issued a statement on the allegations made against his organization. [3] However, as a result of the hard pressure put on the EAP after the Olof Palme assassination, the party was thrown into disarray, numerous members left the party, the party left its Stockholm headquarters and more or less went underground, and leaders of the party - the Gaddys - abandoned the party and left Sweden for the USA [4], where they eventually pursued successful academic careers. [5], [6]

Election History

The EAP had its best election in 1985 when they received 369 votes. In the '90s, the party kept a relatively low profile, but it has resurfaced in the early 21st century and ran for national parliament and the local assembly of Botkyrka in the Swedish election in September 2006. [7] The party only received 83 votes (0.0015%) [8] in the election for national parliament and 64 votes (0.16%) in the local election in Botkyrka. [9]

Party Leaders

• Kerstin Tegin-Gaddy, 1974/76-1986
• Michael Ericson, 1986-2003
• Ulf Sandmark, 2003-2007
• Hussein Askary, 2007-

References

• Dagens Nyheter, November 10, 1968, on ADC and Bill Jones in Sweden
• Dagens Nyheter, October 24, 1975, on EAP and Lyndon LaRouche
• Aftonbladet, August 2, 1976, on EAP and Kerstin Tegin

Notes

1. ^ Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, August 2, 1976, on EAP and Kerstin Tegin
2. ^ SOU 2002:87 Rikets säkerhet och den personliga integriteten, Swedish Government Official Report, p. 239

External links

• Official web site