THE EUROPEAN GREENS, a grouping of Green parties in a number of European states, has called on US Green Party candidate Jill Stein to resign from the US Presidential race and to endorse Democratic Party nominee Kamala Harris.

“Donald Trump has promised that if he becomes President again, he will extend abortion bans, deny members of the LGBTQIA+ community their rights, and deport migrants en masse,” said a statement from the group, which includes Ireland’s Green Party.

“The stakes of these elections could not be higher,” it said.

“We are clear that Kamala Harris is the only candidate who can block Donald Trump and his anti-democratic, authoritarian policies from the White House.”

The group said that they believed that Europe needed a Harris presidency, “to take the urgent, decisive action needed on the climate crisis, and to bring about a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East”.

“This election takes 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,” it said.

However, despite their call, the group also said that there was no link between the European Greens and Stein’s Green Party, as the latter was no longer a member of Global Greens, the international organisation of Green parties.

The party said that this was because of “divergent values and policies”, in part due to “their relationship with parties with authoritarian leaders, and serious policy differences on key issues including Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine”.

The statement was signed by Green parties in 16 European countries, including Ireland.

Jill Stein’s name is on the ballot in almost every US state in next week’s election. Her platform, which includes climate change, universal healthcare, and the ending of military supports to Israel, have appealed to enough of the Democratic Party’s base to make the fear of her spoiling the party’s chances against Trump a real one.

Last week, the Democratic National Committee released a television ad against Stein in the battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, which says that “a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump.”

Stein has sought to distance herself from President Joe Biden’s administration and vowed to stop supporting what she called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.

She has advocated for raising taxes for the richest Americans, canceling student debt and reducing defense spending.

With reporting from © AFP 2024.