US shifts approach on foreign elections

(MENAFN) The U.S. State Department has been directed to scale back its public evaluations of elections held abroad, marking a notable change in Washington’s traditional foreign policy approach, according to a memo cited by reports.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued new guidance limiting official commentary on the legitimacy or fairness of foreign electoral processes. Under the directive, the U.S. will now speak out only in “rare cases when there is a clear and compelling US foreign policy interest to do so,” the memo reportedly states.

The previous administration had made “strengthening democratic institutions” a cornerstone of its foreign policy agenda, frequently criticizing foreign elections it deemed flawed or unfair. For example, just before leaving office in January, former Secretary of State Anthony Blinken declared that Belarus’s presidential election could not be considered free or fair due to what he described as a “repressive environment.” He also expressed unease about what he saw as “democratic backsliding” in Georgia. These remarks were met with strong objections from the respective governments, which labeled them as external interference.

According to the memo, the revised policy reflects a strategic recalibration, shifting focus away from ideological promotion and toward concrete U.S. interests. Rubio emphasized that the core mission of American diplomacy should be to further national policy objectives rather than to act as a global judge of democratic standards.

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