US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has instructed US diplomats around the world not to comment on the fairness or integrity of elections held in foreign countries, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters, BTA reported.
This is a significant departure from Washington's traditional approach to promoting free and fair elections abroad, the agency noted.
The order, sent to all US diplomatic missions, says that the department will no longer issue election-related statements or post on social media unless it has "clear and convincing" foreign policy interest.
"When it is appropriate to comment on elections abroad, our message should be brief, focused on congratulating the winning candidate and, when appropriate, noting common foreign policy interests," the document says. “The statements should avoid expressing an opinion on the fairness or integrity of the electoral process, its legitimacy, or the democratic values of the country in question”, it said.
The text added that statements related to the elections must come from the minister himself or from the spokesperson for the department and prohibited US diplomats from making such statements without explicit approval from the senior leadership of the department.
The United States has traditionally viewed the promotion of human rights and democracy, as well as press freedom, as a key foreign policy goal, although critics have repeatedly pointed out the double standards that Washington applies to its allies.
Under the Trump administration, the administration has increasingly moved away from promoting democracy and human rights, largely seeing this as interference in the affairs of another country. For example, she has taken steps to restructure the State Department's Human Rights Office, which she says has become a platform for "left-wing activists waging vendettas against "anti-Woak" leaders," the agency notes.
Trump officials have repeatedly intervened in European politics to condemn what they see as the suppression of right-wing leaders, including in Romania, Germany and France, accusing European authorities of censoring such views, such as criticism of immigration, in the name of fighting disinformation.