The European Union (EU) will provide a support package of 4 million euros to help Bangladesh hold elections in line with international standards, as the organisation wants the polls to be free, fair, and credible.
EU Ambassador Michael Miller made the announcement after leading a six-member EU delegation in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban on Tuesday.
Providing more details, Miller said, “The European Union is working in partnership with Bangladesh in support of a transition that will lead up to democratic elections. Which is heading towards a timeline of early 2026.
“Specifically, I came today to announce to the Bangladesh Election Commission that the European Union will provide a support package, in excess of 4 million euros, to help Bangladesh run elections in line with international standards.”
The EU ambassador added, “I was accompanied, not only by the European Union delegation colleagues, but also by the European Partnership for Democracy. And these are our implementing partners.
“They are electoral experts who will be here to ensure that there is a strong focus on citizen observation in the coming elections and, of course, here also voter education. And here, as the European Union, we are determined to empower our partner Bangladesh and, of course, the election commission as it conducts these elections.”
Miller pointed out, “I do want to mention that we will also support the Bangladesh election commission directly in terms of capacity building and expert input, including in the fields of operational planning and dispute resolution, to give two examples.
“Our focus here on the conduct of elections, as in other areas of our work in Bangladesh, will be on ensuring the independence, efficiency, and accountability of the institutions here. A final comment from me is that the European Union does consider that Bangladesh is a priority in terms of a potential European Union election observation mission.”
He then added, “So, this is something that we will continue to discuss with the interim government and the election commission in the coming months. This was a very fruitful meeting with interlocutors whose expertise we value enormously, who are engaging with us in an extremely professional manner, and I am very satisfied with the cooperation we have.
“What we are discussing now is the very practical steps that need to be taken immediately and in the coming weeks and months in order to ensure the credibility of these elections. And that is why we are here mobilizing our expertise now.”
Adding that the European Union actually wants Bangladesh elections to be very credible, and held in line with international standards, Miller said, “Free and fair as shorthand for what we aspire to observe.
“I think there are a number of issues that need to be addressed because you are in the middle of a very profound political transition. Obviously, when it comes to the elections, you do have experience of running democratic elections and that is of long-standing, but more recently, of course, those elections have been highly questionable in terms of the conduct and the results.”
The envoy stated, “Now, what we see here is the need to ensure that your voters, especially your young voters who may never have participated in an election, that they have sufficient education to be able to exercise their democratic right.
“In parallel, of course, there are many areas which are perhaps new on the table in a country like Bangladesh, but also in the European Union. So, we have to be sure that you have the capacity in your administration to counter disinformation and misinformation. And of course, that’s not just a problem here, but it’s a problem everywhere.”
Miller then pointed out, “So, on all of these issues, we will be working there. We are now at the stage of identifying how best we can help. But as I said, the meeting was very fruitful and I’m very hopeful that we will come to be able to support you in all of your work.”
Other delegation members present at the programme are – First Secretary (Political) of EU Delegation to Bangladesh Sebastian Riger-Brown, First Secretary and Inclusive Governance Team Leader Enrico Lorenzon, Inclusive Governance Programme Manager Tanja Nader, EPD Senior International Advisor Michael Lidauer, and Project Director for the Citizen Election Observers Component, EPD, at EU Delegation to Bangladesh Anas Wibawa.