EU for ‘genuine’ talks among key
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letter by six members of the European Parliament.
The response was sent on July 6, just three days ahead of the start of a six-member EU exploratory mission’s visit to Bangladesh.
The six European Parliament members in their June 12 letter had asked Borrell to contribute to ensuring free, fair, and impartial general elections in Bangladesh, possibly under a polls-time neutral caretaker government.
They also called for ending violation of human rights, release of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and engagement of the government with the BNP and other major political parties to find a sustainable and democratic solution to the ongoing crises.
In his response letter, Borrell said, “Safeguarding the key freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, is essential for democratic processes. Violence, on the other hand, has no place in these processes and should be avoided at all costs.”
He said the EU is closely following the health situation of former prime minister Khaleda. It is crucial that she has access to the best possible medical treatment, he added.
The high representative said the EU has constant engagement with the Bangladesh government and that it held EU-Bangladesh Joint Commission and the Subgroup on Good Governance and Human Rights in May last year.
He said human rights, democracy and rule of law are integral parts of the EU values and policies. “We, therefore, regularly raise these issues with Bangladesh outside the format of the Joint Commission and its subgroup too.”
Borrell said Bangladesh is a beneficiary of the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade preferences under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and one of the countries under Enhanced Engagement owing to sustained concerns with respect to labobur and human rights.
This year, the EU will issue a report on the implementation of GSP scheme covering 2020-2022, which will include the progress achieved under the Enhanced Engagement with Bangladesh.
Borrell said the EU has repeatedly underlined that the EBA preferences are conditional on the respect of human rights, including human rights, as reflected in the international convention listed in the GSP regulation. This also goes for any future GSP Plus, should Bangladesh decide to apply.
EU MISSION DUE TOMORROW
EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley earlier told The Daily Star that the six-member EU delegation will hold talks with the government, political parties, Election Commission, security officials, the civil society and the media.
The delegation will decide if it is “feasible, useful and advisable” to deploy a full EU observation mission for the elections, he added.
Based on the report of the exploratory mission, Borrell will decide if the EU will send full election observers to Bangladesh during the next general elections.
The EU didn’t send election observers in 2018.