European leaders are visiting Tunisia in the latest bid to break the deadlock surrounding an International Monetary Fund rescue package and ward off the specter of economic collapse they fear would spur more migration across the Mediterranean.
(Bloomberg) —
European leaders are visiting Tunisia in the latest bid to break the deadlock surrounding an International Monetary Fund rescue package and ward off the specter of economic collapse they fear would spur more migration across the Mediterranean.
Sunday’s joint trip by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is one of the clearest signs yet of European concern for the North African nation’s plight.
Facing a looming funding gap and sporadic bread shortages, Tunisia was downgraded further into junk territory by Fitch Ratings on Friday. The country initially agreed a $1.9 billion IMF deal last year but hasn’t yet finalized the wide-ranging reforms, including potentially painful spending cuts, necessary for a sign-off. President Kais Saied’s criticism of foreign “diktats” about the economy have also raised questions over Tunisia’s commitment.
Meloni, who was in the capital Tunis less than a week ago, has pledged Italian support for Tunisia in ongoing IMF talks. Sunday’s trip seeks to raise discussions on Tunisia’s path to “the European level” and see off “a domino effect of further problems,” she told reporters June 8, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
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The birthplace of the 2011 Arab Spring revolts, Tunisia has been a major staging point for illicit and risky crossings of the Mediterranean, both by Tunisians and others from the African continent. Stemming those arrivals has been a key pledge for the new right-wing premier of Italy, which has seen the numbers of people seeking asylum surge since the pandemic.
Italy had 77,195 asylum requests last year, compared to 45,200 in 2021 and 21,330 in 2020, according to Eurostat data.
The country is “optimistic” about seeing “fewer arrivals on its shores this summer,” Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said in an interview with Il Messaggero newspaper on Sunday. He also urged the European Union to provide €900 million ($967 million) in financing for Tunisia now, rather than waiting for the IMF deal to be approved.
Saied, who’s accused by opponents of trying to return his nation to one-man rule after assuming greater powers in 2021, on Saturday warned that “Tunisia will not play the role of guardian for other countries,” the state-run TAP news agency reported.
–With assistance from Souhail Karam and Tarek El-Tablawy.
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