New policy for all who want free, fair elections in Bangladesh: Haas
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas today said his country's new policy of restricting US visas for those who undermine the democratic election process in Bangladesh was a show of support to anyone who called for free and fair elections in the country.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Speaking to reporters after an hourlong meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the ministry, Haas said, "As you saw from the foreign ministry's statement earlier today and our statement yesterday, this is something we have done in support of the Bangladeshi people, and the Bangladeshi government, the prime minister herself, and everyone here in Bangladesh who have called for free and fair elections.
"So, the recent announcement from yesterday was merely our way of helping to support the democratic electoral process."
In a statement yesterday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday announced that they would impose visa restrictions on individuals and their immediate family members "if they are responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh".
Haas today said the new policy came up during his meeting with Momen today. "This is a meeting that we had scheduled for some time and part of a regular series of meetings that we have to talk about US-Bangladeshi relations. We talked again about our great relationship across a whole number of areas, and we also discussed the recent visa policy announcement that the United States has made."
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