Support to recent elections and current election processes in Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
Dear European External Action Service,
Under the right of access to documents in the EU treaties, as developed in Regulation 1049/2001, I am requesting documents which contain the following information: the amount of funds allocated to Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ivory Coast for the purpose of a democratic elections process. This applies to:
-elections in Kenya in 2022, plus current election campaigning for 2027
-elections in Uganda in 2021 and 2025
-elections in Ivory Coast in 2025
-elections in Nigeria in 2023
-elections in Zambia in 2021 and current elections campaigning for elections later this year.
We'd like amounts of funds and their purposes given to government institutions for all these elections, and also amounts of funds and their purposes given to civil society organisations for purposes of enabling democratic elections processes on non-state level.
Evelyn Groenink
Dear Mr Evelyn Groenink,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your requests for access
to documents, which were registered on 18 February 2026, under Regulation
1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents, which the EEAS is also respecting.
Your requests for access to documents have been registered under reference
number: 2026/035.
Please refer to these numbers in any further correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15
working days. Please note that the calculation of the deadline takes into
account the public holidays followed by the EU institutions and not those
of individual countries.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. Please
consult the [1]Privacy Statement for further related information.
The European External Action Service reserves the right to ask for
additional information regarding our identity in order to verify
compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the EEAS’s implementing
measures.
In case we need additional information, clarification or context to the
nature of your request, you will be contacted by us.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[2][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
References
Visible links
1. file:///C:/Users/kangukt/Downloads/eeas_privacy_statement-1.pdf
2. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear Ms Groenink,
We are contacting you concerning your request for access to documents
registered under EEAS reference 2026/035.
You have asked access to documents “containing information on the amount
of funds allocated to Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Ivory Coast for
the purpose of a democratic elections process. This applies to:
-elections in Kenya in 2022, plus current election campaigning for 2027
-elections in Uganda in 2021 and 2025 -elections in Ivory Coast in 2025
-elections in Nigeria in 2023 -elections in Zambia in 2021 and current
elections campaigning for elections later this year.
We'd like amounts of funds and their purposes given to government
institutions for all these elections, and also amounts of funds and their
purposes given to civil society organisations for purposes of enabling
democratic elections processes on non-state level”.
For the purpose of handling your request, we have run a preliminary
consultation with colleagues in charge of democratic process and the
African countries concerned. First at all, we would like to clarify that
the EEAS is not as such in charge of financial assistance to non-EU
countries for the purpose of supporting elections and democratic process.
The European Commission (DG INTPA) is the service in charge of managing
the electoral assistance funds to countries in Africa. From the side of
the EEAS, it organises independent election observation missions with no
funds allocated to governments or civil society organisations.
We understand from colleagues that were consulted that the information you
are requesting is mainly available on public sources online. Furthermore,
it seems that you are mainly interested in having the information, rather
than the actual documents containing it. Having clarified this aspect,
while the EEAS may be in possession of documents that include, among other
information, the one that you are requesting, making a full search of all
of these documents and assess their disclosure in full would entail an
excessive administrative burden for the institution and does not seem to
serve the purpose of your request.
Against this background and to support you for having a reply to your
question within a reasonable timeframe, we would recommend you to submit a
request for public information to the European Commission. The inquiries
could be sent through the form on the EDCC website.
[1]https://european-union.europa.eu/contact... or to this
email address [2][email address]
Thank you for confirming if this suggestion is acceptable for you and
whether your application with the EEAS can be considered as closed.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[3][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
_____________________________________
Rond-Point Schuman 9A, B-1046 Brussels
[4][IMG] [5][IMG] [6][IMG] [7][IMG] [8][IMG] [9][IMG]
_____________________________________
From: EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS <[EEAS request email]>
Sent: 19 February 2026 10:55
To: [FOI #16844 email]
Subject: Acknowledgement of receipt - 035
Dear Mr Evelyn Groenink,
This message is an acknowledgement of receipt for your requests for access
to documents, which were registered on 18 February 2026, under Regulation
1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents, which the EEAS is also respecting.
Your requests for access to documents have been registered under reference
number: 2026/035.
Please refer to these numbers in any further correspondence.
In accordance with the Regulation, you will receive a reply within 15
working days. Please note that the calculation of the deadline takes into
account the public holidays followed by the EU institutions and not those
of individual countries.
Your personal data will be processed in accordance with Regulation (EU)
2018/1725 of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with
regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. Please
consult the [10]Privacy Statement for further related information.
The European External Action Service reserves the right to ask for
additional information regarding our identity in order to verify
compliance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 and the EEAS’s implementing
measures.
In case we need additional information, clarification or context to the
nature of your request, you will be contacted by us.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[11][EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD
References
Visible links
1. https://european-union.europa.eu/contact...
2. mailto:[email address]
3. mailto:[EEAS request email]
4. https://www.youtube.com/user/EUExternalA...
5. https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanExterna...
6. https://twitter.com/eu_eeas
7. https://www.instagram.com/eudiplomacy/
8. https://www.flickr.com/photos/eeas/
9. https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/head...
10. file:///C:/Users/kangukt/Downloads/eeas_privacy_statement-1.pdf
11. mailto:[EEAS request email]
Dear EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS,
You write: "We understand from colleagues that were consulted that the information you
are requesting is mainly available on public sources online."
You also write: "While the EEAS may be in possession of documents that include, among other
information, the one that you are requesting, making a full search of all
of these documents and assess their disclosure in full would entail an
excessive administrative burden for the institution and does not seem to
serve the purpose of your request."
I understand that too much work is too much work. However, if you would have made a full search of relevant documents and (then hopefully) would have disclosed these in full, that would have been exactly what I would have appreciated. It would also absolutely have served the purpose of my request. Regarding the online sources: I have done internet search and so have others working on the same project, and we have not been able to find the specifics we were looking for. We had hoped you would help.
We'll try the European Commission, but if you'd have anything that you could help us with without too much trouble, that would be really good.
Yours sincerely,
Evelyn Groenink
Dear Ms Groenink,
We thank you for your feedback. We understand your position. At the same time, as we take note that you are interested in having aggregated information on EU funds provided to several African countries in the context of election processes that took place in different years, we consider that Regulation 1049/2001 on public access to documents may not be the appropriate tool to satisfy your interest in a short delay. This is because the identification of documents, their global assessment and redaction of sensitive elements falling within the exceptions of Article 4 of the Regulation will require a considerable amount of time and efforts.
We consider that the European Commission (DG INTPA) should be in a position of providing you with the requested information in reasonable time. We understand that you will follow our suggestion. Needless to say, should you then wish to request access to specific documents in possession of the EEAS, we remain at your disposal.
Yours sincerely,
EEAS ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS
[EEAS request email]
SG.LD.ATD