In his democracy summit, Biden says autocracies got 'weaker'

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday opened his second Summit for Democracy, a largely virtual meeting with world leaders.

Some 121 leaders were invited to the two-day summit, which Biden first started in a bid to restore Washington's ties with its allies  after his preredecessor Donald Trump's more antagonistic approach.

His administration is pushing for deeper alliances in the meetings, as well as trying to nudge what it might see as morev autocratic-leaning nations toward modest reforms.

"I believe this is the defining challenge of our age and, today, we can say with pride that the democracies of the world are getting stronger, not weaker. Autocracies of the world are getting weaker, not stronger," Biden said.

Some leaders of typical US allies who have demonstrated more autocratic tendencies, such as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Prime Minsiter Viktor Orban of Hungary, were not invited despite both their countries being NATO members.

Pushing for democratic reform

Among the leaders attending the summit are those of Israel and India, two close US allies that have also recently faced criticism from Washington.

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put on hold controversial judicial reforms after massive protests and strikes. Critics have accused him of pushing to weaken Israel's judiciary with his government's proposed overhaul.

Netanyahu told the summit that the US-Israel alliance was "unshakable" and called Biden "a friend of 40 years."

The Israeli leader promised that Israel "was, is and will always remain a proud, strong and vibrant democracy as a beacon of liberty and shared prosperity in the heart of the Middle East."

This had followed Biden saying on Tuesday that he hoped Netanyahu "walks away from" the planned reforms. Netanyahu had initially responded by saying Israel was a sovereign country that did not make decisions "based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends." 

India, meanwhile, has faced repeated diplomatic and trade overtures from both Russia and the US since the war in Ukraine broke out. Modi attended the summit on the same day Russia announced a plan to "substantially increase oil supplies" to India. And earlier this week, leading opposition politician Rahul Gandhi was expelled from parliament and convicted of defaming Modi in an election campaign speech.   

What have the summit co-hosts said?

The summit's first edition was criticized as too US-focused, prompting Biden to tap leaders on each continent as co-hosts. This year, those leaders are from South Korea, Zambia, Costa Rica and The Netherlands.

In a joint statement, Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that "strengthening transparent, accountable governance rooted in the consent of the governed is a fundamental imperative of our time."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte echoed their remarks, saying that Russia's war in Ukraine was a jolting moment for the world's democracies.

Kenya's President William Ruto, meanwhile, said that democracy-building was essential to the growth of developing nations. "This is our path to sustainable development," Ruto said.

What is the expected outcome?

Biden made a $690 million (€635 million) pledge to support programs around the world to stage free elections and advance independent media, as well as bolster action against corruption. The first summit saw the US pledge $424 million.

The Biden administration is also set to announce a joint effort with around 10 partners on guiding principles for how governments should use surveillance technology.

Earlier this week, Biden restricted the US government's use of spyware tools amid fears of China's increasing technological clout.

After the first Summit for Democracy, rights advocates criticized a lack of evidence that the participating countries made progress improving their democracies.

China, Russia criticize summit      

Mao Ning, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said the summit "hypes up confrontation" and will "stoke division in the name of democracy."

Washington invited Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory, to the summit.

Meanwhile, Russia's Ambassador Anatoly Antonov accused the US of hypocrisy, pointing to the country's problems of "racism, gun violence, corruption and social inequality."

"We have seen the disastrous consequences of the attempts to forcibly export American democracy to Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan," Antonov said.

fb/msh (AFP, AP, Reuters)