U.S. President Joe Biden announced new funding to enhance democracies worldwide during an international summit on Wednesday, with a budget of $690 million to help combat corruption, support free and fair elections, and provide advanced technology to support democratic governments.
During his speech, Biden stated, "We are changing the course of things here. As we often say, we stand at a turning point in history, and the decisions we make today will certainly affect the course of our world for decades to come."
Despite inviting leaders from 120 countries to participate, the summit's announcement initially gained support from only 73 countries. Twelve of these countries distanced themselves from parts of the text, including India, Israel, and the Philippines, choosing not to participate in a section supporting accountability for human rights violators and acknowledging the importance of the International Criminal Court. A senior U.S. administration official indicated that the announcement remains open, and more countries can still endorse it.
The announcement stated, "To face the growing challenges to democracy around the world, we commit to strengthening democratic institutions and processes."
Human rights advocates noted that there is little evidence that the participating countries have made progress in improving their democracies, and there is no official mechanism to bind participants to the modest commitments they made at the first summit.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of 85 leaders who addressed the summit on Wednesday, expressed confidence in reaching a compromise with the opposition regarding his plan for judicial reforms, after Biden strongly criticized the controversial plan.
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more weapons to assist his country in defeating Russia, asserting that "the enemies of democracy must lose."
