The European Union (EU) and Tunisia signed, on Sunday July 16, in Tunis, a memorandum of understanding for a “comprehensive strategic partnership” relating to the fight against irregular immigration, renewable energies and the economic development of this region. Maghreb countries. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed an agreement to “invest in shared prosperity”, citing “five pillars”, including migration issues.
These five pillars are “macroeconomic stability, trade and investment, green energy transition, bringing people together, migration and mobility,” the Commission said in a statement. Tunisia is a departure point for thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. The Italian heads of government, Giorgia Meloni, and the Dutch, Mark Rutte, accompanied the European leader after a first visit a month ago, during which they had proposed this partnership.
The memorandum of understanding marks “a new important step to deal with the migration crisis in an integrated manner”, said Ms. Meloni, who invited Tunisian President Kaïs Saïed, present at her side, to participate in a summit on Sunday in Rome. migrations. The latter spoke in turn to insist on the part of the agreement relating to “bringing people together”.
In particular, the extension of the Erasmus exchange program to Tunisia and aid of 65 million euros for eighty schools are planned. On the energy side, European leaders recalled that Tunisia is concerned by submarine fiber optic cable and electric cable projects to connect the two shores of the Mediterranean. In this regard, the EU wants to support the development of renewable energies in the Maghreb country which has “enormous potential”, underlined Ms von der Leyen.
“Collective Agreement on Inhumane Immigration”
According to Ms. Meloni, the partnership between Tunisia and the EU “can be seen as a model for the establishment of new relations with North Africa”. Mr. Rutte for his part considered that “the agreement will benefit both the European Union and the Tunisian people”, recalling that the EU is Tunisia’s first trading partner and its first investor. On immigration, he assured that the agreement will “better control irregular immigration”.
President Saïed raised this issue in front of his counterparts, calling for “a collective agreement on inhuman immigration and on [forced] displacement operations by criminal networks”. “Tunisians have given these immigrants everything that could be offered with unlimited generosity,” said Saïed, who was heavily criticized for the way hundreds of migrants were arrested in Tunisia and then “deported”, according to NGOs. , to inhospitable areas on the borders with Algeria and Libya.
Telephone testimonies to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and videos sent to NGOs in Tunisia showed women and children abandoned in the middle of the desert without water, food or shelter. Libyan border guards told AFP on Sunday that they had rescued at least 70 migrants who were wandering in unbearable temperatures and without any help in a border area between the two countries. An increasingly openly xenophobic discourse has spread in Tunisia since Mr. Saïed, who assumed full powers in July 2021, denounced illegal immigration in February, referring to “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” who came , in his view, to “change the demographic composition” of the country.
Concretely, the agreement provides aid of 105 million euros to fight against irregular immigration and budgetary aid of 150 million euros while Tunisia is strangled by a debt of 80% of its gross domestic product (GDP ) and runs out of cash. During its first visit, the European “troika” had mentioned a “macro-financial assistance of 900 million euros” which could be provided to Tunisia in the form of a loan over the coming years.
Ms von der Leyen said on Sunday that Brussels “stands ready to provide this assistance as soon as the conditions are met”. This EU “assistance” is conditional on an agreement between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for new credit from the Fund, a file that has been deadlocked for months. President Saïed rejects two essential conditions for an agreement with the IMF: the lifting of subsidies on basic products and the restructuring of state companies in difficulty. We must “find new ways of cooperation outside the international monetary framework”, he said on Sunday.
