Warning Stakes 'Could Not Be Higher,' European Greens Call On Jill Stein to Drop Out

Noting that the U.S. Green Party and its presidential nominee, Jill Stein, have strayed far from the values held by Green parties in countries across the globe, a coalition of European lawmakers representing the organization called on Stein to drop out of the U.S. presidential race to help prevent a victory by Republican nominee Donald Trump.

"The stakes of these elections could not be higher," reads an open letter from politicians and parties from countries including Norway, Belgium, France, Ireland. "We are clear that [Democratic Vice President] Kamala Harris is the only candidate who can block Donald Trump and his anti-democratic, authoritarian policies from the White House."

Stein, who has run for president in the last four elections and won 1.4 million votes in 2016, is now polling between 1.1% and 1.4% and is on the ballot in a majority of states, including almost every battleground state.

The European Greens noted that they advocate "for a politics that prioritizes the planet, people, and peace above corporate greed, systemic injustice, and violence."

"The U.S. Greens are no longer a member of the global organization of Green parties," reads the letter, spearheaded by European Greens co-chairs Mélanie Vogel, a French senator, and Thomas Waitz, an Austrian member of European Parliament. "In part this fissure resulted from their relationship with parties with authoritarian leaders, and serious policy differences on key issues including Russia's full-scale assault on Ukraine."

Stein attended a dinner in Russia in 2015 with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine's defense against the Russian invasion that began in 2022.

In mid-October, Stein joined former Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant at a rally where Sawant acknowledged that Stein has no chance of winning. At an event in Michigan, Sawant said the state was "ground zero to punish Kamala Harris and defeat her" for Harris' support for the Biden administration's policy in Israel and Palestine. The comment suggested to critics that Stein and her supporters view a Trump presidency as preferable to a Harris victory on November 5.

"The U.S. Green Party is attempting to go after the subset of voters on the left who don't like the Democrats," Carl Roberts, a spokesperson for Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, a political foundation affiliated with the German Green Party, told The Guardian in September. "I think this is quite out of step with other Green parties, who always center environmental concerns in their messaging and campaigns as one of their highest priorities."

Oras Tynkkynen, a member of Finnish Parliament representing the country's Green Party, which signed Friday's letter, said supporting Harris is "the obvious choice" for voters and politicians with "Greens values."

On Friday, the European Greens wrote that the U.S. election is taking place "at a watershed moment in the history of our planet."

"We face a climate crisis that is worsening every year, with heatwaves, floods, and a loss of biodiversity at a rate never seen before. Climate policies require democratic institutions, which we fear would be dismantled if Trump is elected," they wrote. "Right now, the race for the White House is too close for comfort. We call on Jill Stein to withdraw from the race, and endorse Kamala Harris for the presidency of the United States."