The European Union (EU) and Tunisia signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday to create a “comprehensive strategic association” in the fight against irregular immigration, economic development and renewable energy.
European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen unveiled the deal at the Tunisian presidential palace aimed at “investing in shared prosperity” with the North African country, the starting point for thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe across the Mediterranean. .
The head of the Italian government, Giorgia Meloni, who was part of the European delegation alongside her Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, confirmed that the memorandum “marks an important new step to tackle the migration crisis in an integrated way”.
The “Five Pillars” agreement, he said, “can be seen as a model for establishing new relations with North Africa”.
The Tunisian president, Kais Saied, emphasized the issue of dealing with “reconciliation between peoples”.
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Rutte stressed that the association would “benefit both the EU and the Tunisian people” and allow for “better control of irregular immigration”.
He also recalled that the European Union is already the number one trading partner and number one investor in the North African country.
In particular, the agreement provides aid of 105 million euros (about 120 million dollars at current exchange rates) and Tunisia is suffocated by a public debt equal to 80% of its GDP and 150 million euros of budget support due to lack of liquidity.
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This will be the second visit to Tunisia by Van der Leyen, Meloni and Rutte. First, last month, they announced “900 million euros (USD 1,010 million) of macro-financial assistance” to Tunisia over the next few years.
But that aid was conditional on an agreement for new IMF credits to Tunisia, stalled for months.
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