Prime Minister Mark Carney has been awarded the 2026 Democracy Medal by the International Association of Political Consultants in recognition of his foreign policy stance advocating for middle powers on the global stage, Global News reported.
The award was announced Saturday evening at the IAPC annual conference in Seville, Spain. Carney was unable to accept the medal in person because he is travelling in Asia for several days.
“The IAPC Democracy Medal 2026 goes to Prime Minister Mark Carney because, at a time when the political landscape is shifting faster than at any point in a generation, he offered the world something rare: clarity,” said IAPC President Marko Rakar in a draft statement reviewed by Global News.
“He did not raise his voice; he raised the standard. With calm and clear thinking, he showed that middle powers are not powerless, and that working together they can defend the rule of law, honour the obligations nations owe one another, and help keep the international order and the peace it protects,” Rakar told Global News.
Established in 1968, the IAPC first presented its Democracy Medal in 1982 to Polish Solidarity leader Lech Walesa. Previous winners include Nelson Mandela, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Alexei Navalny.
Carney delivered a foreign policy speech on Jan. 20 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In that address, he urged middle powers to reject the dominance of hegemons and form coalitions with like-minded nations.
“In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favour or to combine to create a third path with impact,” Carney said in Davos, without explicitly naming the United States or China.
Earlier this fall at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, and at other global gatherings afterward, he expanded upon several concepts from his address in Davos. According to Rakar, the group’s members put his name forward and selected him because democratic systems require figures who acknowledge reality honestly while striving to shape a better future.
“Our members nominated him and our membership chose him, because democracy needs leaders who tell the truth about the world as it is and still work for the world as it should be,” Rakar told Global News.
Carney started Sunday at the ASEAN Summit in Manila, Philippines, and finished the day at the Francophonie Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the IAPC award.
Following his stop in Cambodia, Carney is scheduled to travel to Shenzhen, China, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping. U.S. President Donald Trump is also expected to attend the APEC gathering.
Carney indicated he expects to hold a one-on-one meeting with Xi during the summit. However, it remains unclear whether the prime minister will hold a separate meeting with Trump.
