Biden Issues Warning about Worldwide Democracy
2021-12-10
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1American President Joe Biden opened the first Summit for Democracy on Thursday.
2The gathering aims to bring together world leaders who, in his words, "strengthen our own democracies and push back on authoritarianism."
3"This is an urgent matter," Biden said as he opened the two-day video meeting.
4"The data we're seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction."
5The president made note of a recent report from the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
6The report found that "more than half of all democracies have experienced a decline in at least one aspect of their democracy over the last 10 years, including the United States."
7Michael Abramowitz is head of Freedom House, which produced yearly reports on the state of democracy around the world.
8He said American democracy has "been hurting in recent years."
9He added, "Right now, we're going through a phase in America where it's very difficult to get things done and to really prove that democracy can deliver."
10Biden announced plans to spend up to $424 million to support independent media, fight corruption, defend fair elections and advance democracy.
11The money must be approved by the United States Congress.
12The gathering drew criticism from American adversaries and nations that were not invited to join.
13Ahead of the gathering, the ambassadors to the U.S. from China and Russia jointly described the Biden administration as showing a "Cold-War mentality."
14They wrote that the gathering could lead to division in the world.
15China and Russia were among the nations that did not receive invitations to take part in the meeting.
16Chinese officials have also criticized the U.S. for inviting Taiwan to take part.
17China claims the self-governing island as part of its territory.
18World leaders took turns to speak about the state of democracy.
19Many of the video messages had been recorded at an earlier time.
20"The democratic conversation is changing," said Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
21New technologies, she said, have centered more on reaching people than on freedom of speech.
22Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took part in Thursday's meeting, said on Twitter, "Democracy is not a given, it must be fought for."
23Zelensky was to meet with Biden later in the day.
24Biden had warned Russia not to invade Ukraine a day earlier.
25Poland's Andrzej Duda also spoke out against Russia and its support of Belarus in his comments to the gathering.
26Poland's support for democracy "has made us the target of the Kremlin propaganda," he said.
27The U.S. State Department listed more than 100 countries that were invited to the gathering.
28The countries include liberal democracies, weaker democracies and those with authoritarian qualities.
29Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan declined to attend the meeting.
30In a statement issued ahead of the gathering, the foreign ministry said,
31"We value our partnership with the U.S. which we wish to expand both bilaterally as well as in terms of regional and international cooperation."
32Hungary attempted unsuccessfully to block European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from speaking at the gathering.
33Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called the meeting a "political" event.
34Hungary was among the countries not invited to the event.
35Other such nations included Turkey and Egypt.
36I'm Jill Robbins.
1American President Joe Biden opened the first Summit for Democracy on Thursday. The gathering aims to bring together world leaders who, in his words, "strengthen our own democracies and push back on authoritarianism." 2"This is an urgent matter," Biden said as he opened the two-day video meeting. "The data we're seeing is largely pointing in the wrong direction." 3The president made note of a recent report from the International Institute of Democracy and Electoral Assistance. The report found that "more than half of all democracies have experienced a decline in at least one aspect of their democracy over the last 10 years, including the United States." 4Michael Abramowitz is head of Freedom House, which produced yearly reports on the state of democracy around the world. He said American democracy has "been hurting in recent years." He added, "Right now, we're going through a phase in America where it's very difficult to get things done and to really prove that democracy can deliver." 5Biden announced plans to spend up to $424 million to support independent media, fight corruption, defend fair elections and advance democracy. The money must be approved by the United States Congress. 6The gathering drew criticism from American adversaries and nations that were not invited to join. 7Ahead of the gathering, the ambassadors to the U.S. from China and Russia jointly described the Biden administration as showing a "Cold-War mentality." They wrote that the gathering could lead to division in the world. China and Russia were among the nations that did not receive invitations to take part in the meeting. 8Chinese officials have also criticized the U.S. for inviting Taiwan to take part. China claims the self-governing island as part of its territory. 9Other leaders speaking 10World leaders took turns to speak about the state of democracy. Many of the video messages had been recorded at an earlier time. 11"The democratic conversation is changing," said Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. New technologies, she said, have centered more on reaching people than on freedom of speech. 12Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who took part in Thursday's meeting, said on Twitter, "Democracy is not a given, it must be fought for." Zelensky was to meet with Biden later in the day. Biden had warned Russia not to invade Ukraine a day earlier. 13Poland's Andrzej Duda also spoke out against Russia and its support of Belarus in his comments to the gathering. Poland's support for democracy "has made us the target of the Kremlin propaganda," he said. 14The U.S. State Department listed more than 100 countries that were invited to the gathering. The countries include liberal democracies, weaker democracies and those with authoritarian qualities. 15Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan declined to attend the meeting. In a statement issued ahead of the gathering, the foreign ministry said, "We value our partnership with the U.S. which we wish to expand both bilaterally as well as in terms of regional and international cooperation." 16Hungary attempted unsuccessfully to block European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from speaking at the gathering. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó called the meeting a "political" event. Hungary was among the countries not invited to the event. Other such nations included Turkey and Egypt. 17I'm Jill Robbins. 18Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on VOA and Associated Press news reports. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 19_____________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21authoritarianism - n. a belief requiring people to obey authority at the cost of personal freedom 22aspect - n. a part of something 23deliver - v. to produce the promised or expected results 24advance - v. to move forward 25adversary - n. an enemy or opponent 26decline - v. to say that you will not do something 27bilaterally - adv. involving two countries 28regional - n. a part of the world 29What do you think of the Summit for Democracy? Write to us in the Comments section.