Alex Soros, son of American billionaire George Soros and chairperson of his Open Society Foundations (OSF), met Bangladesh’s interim government head, Muhammad Yunus, days after the Donald Trump administration halted foreign aid to the Asian country. This is the second meeting between Soros and Yunus in three months after the duo met in New York last year in October – weeks after the Nobel laureate took charge following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
Sharing details of the meeting held in Dhaka, Yunus said that the delegation, led by Soros and OSF president Binaifer Nowrojee, expressed their support for the interim government’s reform agenda.
“Open Society Foundations leadership on Wednesday met chief interim adviser to discuss Bangladesh’s efforts to rebuild the economy, trace siphoned-off assets, combat misinformation, and carry out vital economic reforms,” Yunus’s office tweeted.
According to the Bangladeshi media, economic reforms, media freedom, asset recovery, new cybersecurity laws, and addressing the Rohingya crisis were central topics of the discussion.
The duo also held talks on October 3 last year in New York, with Alex Soros calling Yunus an “old friend of my father”. Yunus, who is known for his work in microfinance and social activities in Bangladesh, has financial ties to George Soros.
Notably, Alex Soros is engaged to Huma Abedin, former top aide of Hillary Clinton.
Soros’s OSF has been accused of promoting regime change in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Some argue that it played a role in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh in August last year. Pertinently, Hasina had previously alleged that the US was involved in the unrest in Bangladesh even though she did not provide further details.
Hungarian-born US investor George Soros and his organisation have recently made headlines in India as well. His name surfaced in controversies involving the Adani Group, with allegations that Soros-funded organisations were behind the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which accused the Adani Group of using opaque Mauritius-based funds to channel investments into its companies.
Recently, the BJP alleged that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had links with organisations that have received funding from Soros. The Open Society Foundations’ activities have also been under lens in India for allegedly supporting groups critical of government policies.