The United States has formally notified the Council of Europe that it is withdrawing from GRECO, the body's anti-corruption monitoring group, the State Department announced on Monday.

The US had been a member of the Group of States against Corruption since 2000. Before the American exit, only Russia and Belarus had left the grouping, both amid broader ruptures with European institutions.

In its statement, the State Department said GRECO 'does not provide tangible benefits to US national security' and declared that the era of writing 'blank checks' for international bodies was over. The move follows the administration's earlier snub to OSCE observers for the midterm elections and a string of withdrawals from multilateral bodies, including the World Health Organization, the UN Human Rights Council and the Venice Commission in January.

Critics say the exit weakens the global anti-corruption framework at a time when cross-border graft is rising. Supporters of the move argue that American anti-corruption enforcement is already among the strongest in the world and does not need external monitoring.

The withdrawal takes effect as per the group's notification rules, leaving GRECO's remaining members to continue its country-evaluation rounds without the United States.