Iceland's "Anti-Trump" Prime Minister Joins Sanders-Varoufakis Open Call for Global Progressive Alliance

Icelandic Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir this week announced her support for Progressive International--the just-launched global movement calling for all progressives to fight together for a "shared vision of democracy, prosperity, sustainability, and solidarity."

A brainchild of the U.S.-based Sanders Institute and Europe's DiEM25--groups founded by Jane O'Meara Sanders and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, respectively--the Progressive International's open call was unveiled Friday at the inaugural Sanders Institute Gathering, a three-day congregation of hundreds of progressive leaders tackling issues including "full-throated economic populism," Medicare for All, and a vision "for a world that works for the children of this world, not for a handful of billionaires."

The feminist and environmentalist Jakobsdottir, who's been described as "the anti-Trump," wrote on her Facebook page that the Progressive International represented "the struggle for general welfare, security, and dignity for all people," and that a trans-border network of those on the left would help "alleviate social and economic inequality, make changes to the global financial system, turn away from the arms race, and stop climate change," according to a Google translation of her post.

The open call from the Progressive International warns of a "network of right-wing factions [that] is spreading across borders, working to erode human rights, silence dissent, and promote intolerance."

"Not since the 1930 has humanity faced such an existential threat," it continues. "To defeat this Nationalist International, we cannot simply go back to the failed status quo." Rather, "The time has come for progressives to form a grassroots movement for global justice: to mobilize workers, women and the disenfranchised all around the world behind a shared vision of democracy, prosperity, sustainability, and solidarity."

To hear more about the Progressive International, watch the following video released by the group, which declares, "It is time for progressives of the world to unite. Let us begin today building a better tomorrow."