Key facts
- The Trump administration has withdrawn the US from the Council of Europe's Greco anti-corruption monitoring body.
- The US cited a lack of tangible benefits to national security and a preference for unilateral action.
- Greco monitors member countries' adherence to anti-corruption standards and makes recommendations.
- The US had been a member of Greco since 2000.
- The State Department will prioritize visa restrictions, sanctions, and targeted foreign assistance against corruption.
The Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from the Group of States against Corruption (Greco), a monitoring body of the Council of Europe, citing that continued membership no longer serves US interests. A State Department spokesperson stated that the decision follows a review and signifies a move away from multilateralism towards unilateral action, emphasizing that the US prioritizes combating criminal threats that directly impact Americans.
The spokesperson further explained that the annual financial contribution to Greco did not provide tangible benefits to US national security, declaring, "The era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over." Instead, the department intends to focus on "higher-impact tools" such as visa restrictions, sanctions, and targeted foreign assistance to combat corruption that threatens US security and prosperity.
The proposal for withdrawal was an internal State Department document dated September 1. Greco, established in 1999, aims to ensure member countries adhere to anti-corruption standards. The US had participated since 2000, making it one of two non-European members, with Kazakhstan being the other. Russia departed the watchdog in 2023, followed by Belarus in 2024.
In response, the Council of Europe acknowledged the US as a "valuable contributor" and expressed openness to resuming cooperation. Greco, an intergovernmental organization, lacks enforcement powers, relying instead on member reviews and published recommendations. Its monitoring has shown varied success, with nearly 90% of recommendations implemented overall, though parliamentarians lagged behind judges and prosecutors. A December 2023 assessment of the US by Greco noted strong laws but a lack of an overarching anti-corruption strategy, exempting the president and vice-president from most federal conflict-of-interest rules. Greco made 10 recommendations to the US, including developing such a strategy.