Connect with us

Published

on

Washington leaves the UN cultural agency. UNESCO: ‘A regrettable but expected decision.’ The withdrawal will take effect on 31 December 2026

The United States will once again leave UNESCO. The Trump administration made the announcement, denouncing ‘anti-American, anti-Israeli’ positions and a ‘woke’ agenda, a term used by the US right wing to criticise progressive and inclusive policies. ‘Continued participation in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,’ said a State Department spokeswoman after the White House announced the decision to the New York Post.

According to Washington, the United Nations agency for culture and education ‘is biased’ and promotes ‘divisive’ causes, particularly for its positions on Palestine, China and issues related to diversity and inclusion. The decision comes at the end of a 90-day review ordered by Trump in February. Already in 2017, during his first term, Trump had withdrawn the United States from UNESCO, before Joe Biden brought the country back in 2023.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay called the decision ‘regrettable but expected’ and assured that the organisation is ready to deal with the consequences. ‘This decision contradicts the principles of multilateralism,’ Azoulay said, noting that the United States currently contributes 8% of the agency’s total budget. ‘The same reasons were put forward in 2017, but in the meantime, structural reforms have been introduced and international support has grown,’ she added.

Azoulay then claimed UNESCO’s central role in the fight against anti-Semitism and Holocaust education, recalling the recognition received from US Jewish institutions. The US withdrawal will take effect on 31 December 2026, but UNESCO will continue, the director-general assured, ‘to collaborate with American partners in academia, the private sector and non-profit organisations, and to maintain open dialogue with the US administration and Congress.’

THE LATEST NEWS

Congress deadlocked, US government shutdown looms next Wednesday

Without an agreement on the spending bill, non-essential federal activities would be shut down: hundreds of thousands of workers suspended...
Read More
Congress deadlocked, US government shutdown looms next Wednesday

James Comey indicted for obstruction of justice and making false statements

Former FBI Director James Comey, who led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, faces up to five...
Read More
James Comey indicted for obstruction of justice and making false statements

Secret summit in Quantico: all US generals summoned, delicate moments

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth calls 800 senior officers without explaining the reasons. Speculation and tension grow Washington, 25 September 2025...
Read More
Secret summit in Quantico: all US generals summoned, delicate moments

Trump-Kiev: ‘Recapture is possible,’ but the White House calls it a tactic

According to the Washington Post, the US president wants to increase pressure on Putin Trump-Kiev, 25 September 2025 – Donald...
Read More
Trump-Kiev: ‘Recapture is possible,’ but the White House calls it a tactic

Drones force Aalborg airport closure as tensions rise in Europe

Drones: second Danish airspace alert in a week amid Russian incursions and NATO warnings Danish police have shut the airspace...
Read More
Drones force Aalborg airport closure as tensions rise in Europe

Trump pledges to block West Bank annexation, says Politico

US president Trump warns Netanyahu during UN talks with Arab leaders Donald Trump has privately assured Arab leaders that he...
Read More
Trump pledges to block West Bank annexation, says Politico

(Photo: © AndKronos)

Di Tendenza/Trending