“Good feeling” with the president Kais Saied, “concrete approach” on migrants – Corriere.it

Between sips of coffee, Giorgia Meloni’s meeting with the Tunisian president Kais Saied lasted one hour and 45 minutesthe time to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and praise each other for the “excellent work” that has made it possible to curb landings on our coasts. The Italian premier came out of the face to face very satisfied and wanted to tell it in front of the cameras: almost ten minutes of solo, without journalists and without questions. The staff decided to cancel the traditional press point and set up a similar conference, where, however, the only one to speak was precisely the premier. The justification of Palazzo Chigi: «We were an hour late on the schedule».

Meloni, who has already returned to Rome, it had flown to Tunis with the aim of helping to unblock the 1.9 billion loan that the International Monetary Fund made conditional on a reform plan. The prime minister said she was “very happy to be here” and Saied welcomed her with open arms: “She is a woman who says aloud what others think in silence”. Great harmony, mutual compliments and in the end the president’s entourage underlines the “good feeling”, completely oblivious to the harsh criticisms that, from Rome, accompany the mission.

Laura Boldrini (PD) entrusts Facebook with a long and worried reflection, in which he recalls that Saied «has centralized all powers in his hands, suffocating dissent, arresting the trade unionists who created the new Constitution and together with them the head of the largest opposition party, placing silence the free press”. What if Matthew Salvini he says he is convinced that Meloni will return “with a concrete result”, the leader of the Italian Left Nicola Fratoianni instead he thinks that the Tunisian mission, “putting respect for human rights and the return to democracy into the background, will bring nothing good either to the Tunisian people or to Italy”.

Meloni goes straight, convinced as she is that the prevention work carried out with the Tunisian authorities has eased the pressure on the Mediterranean coasts: “Landings in Italy decreased significantly in May compared to March and April”. The premier, in her statement in favor of the cameracalled it a “concrete approach” and he also referred to the “package” of financing and other forms of support being worked on in Brussels: “To speed up this package, I have given my willingness to return to Tunisia soon together with President Von der Leyen”.

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