European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Miller spoke to journalists after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin at Agargaon's Nirbachan Bhaban today. Photo : BSS

DHAKA, Aug 19, 2025 (BSS) - European Union (EU) Ambassador in Dhaka Michael Miller today said the EU will provide an assistance package of over four million euro for Bangladesh to help it hold elections in line with international standards.

The EU ambassador made the remark while talking to reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin at Agargaon's Nirbachan Bhaban here. 

Earlier, a six-member EU delegation met the CEC.

Michael Miller said the EU is working, in partnership with Bangladesh, to build support for a transition ahead of democratic elections.

"I think you all have heard that Bangladesh is moving towards a national election in early 2026. I have come today to announce to the Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) that the European Union will provide an assistance package of over 4 million euro to help Bangladesh conduct polls in line with international standards. We will continue to discuss this with the interim government and the EC in the future," he said.

The EU envoy said he was not only accompanied today by colleagues from the European Union delegation but also by the representatives from the European Partnership for Democracy.
 
"They are our implementing partners. They are election experts. They will be here to ensure a strong focus on citizen observation in the upcoming elections. We are committed to empowering our partner Bangladesh and of course the Election Commission. 

"I would like to mention that we will directly support the Election Commission of Bangladesh in capacity building and providing expert advice. This includes in the areas of operational planning and dispute resolution," he said.

Miller said like other areas of their work in Bangladesh, their focus will be on the holding of the elections and ensuring the independence, efficiency and accountability of institutions here.

"As the European Union, we, are committed to strengthening our partner Bangladesh and of course the Election Commission, so that they can organise fair polls. A final comment from my side is that the EU considers Bangladesh a priority for a possible EU election observation mission. So, we will continue to discuss with the interim government and the EC in the coming months," he said.

Responding to a question, Miller said everyone's attention is on the preparation for the elections and the political parties. 

"The announcement of the election date is the task of the EC. We are now discussing some practical steps that will ensure the acceptance of the elections. And that is why we are here to use our expertise. Because we want your elections to be truly acceptable, of international standards, of course free and fair," he said.

Noting that the EU's pre-election observation team will arrive in Dhaka next month, Miller said a team of technical experts will arrive in Bangladesh next month. 

"This is not a full-fledged observation mission. Rather, the experts' job will be to verify whether the suitable environment has been created here to send an election observation mission. We are verifying the capacity and reality," he said.

Replying to another query, the EU envoy said: "We are taking different initiatives - voter education, helping local observer organisations to work at the field level, working with the Election Commission and working with small civic organisations, as well as experts to prevent disinformation."