Meloni in Tunisia, today the European mission between economic aid and respect for rights – Corriere.it

In a nutshell, an attempt to exchange: you give us greater democracy political and economic, we will give you before the european aidi, then we guarantee you that we will be able to unlock the almost two billion dollars that your country expects from Washington, from the International Monetary Fund.

perhaps a bit schematic, but this is the heart of today’s visit by the Prime Minister to Tunisia, a quick visit a few days after the last meeting, last Tuesday, and which this time was officially led by the European Commission, with the presence and a package of practical measures elaborated by Ursula von der Leyenwhich Meloni has progressively involved in dossier and with the support and physical presence of the Dutch prime minister as well Mark Rutte.

In short a European mission the one that involves three leaders of the Union first in the palace of the Prime Minister of the Tunisian Republic, Najla Bouden and then in conversation with the president and the real leader of the state, Kais Saied.The first objective of the trip is to avoid the financial collapse of Tunisia and to re-establish a minimum of stability in a country which until ten years ago was a symbol of the arab democratic spring and now it risks returning to being an anarchic and at the same time dictatorial system, as well as a passageway for illegal immigrants from a large part of Africa to Europe.

The IMF aid is conditional on a series of reforms, including cuts to a huge unproductive public system and the liberalization of state-owned enterprises, but they are difficult for Saied to swallow because they would eliminate a portion of his consensus system. so an attempt at balance between consensus and reforms what will be at the center of the talks today, with the three European leaders who will put on the plate as much as possible, including some financial aid from the EUin exchange for concessions in terms of reforms.

Tunisia is a priority, because its destabilization would be serious repercussions throughout North Africa and obviously also on our country, said Giorgia Meloni before flying to Tunis for the second time in a week. The meetings could also lay the foundations for a broad-based agreement between Brussels and Tunisia, based on a increased trade cooperation in the energy, migration and economic sector in the broadest sense.

For many years, Tunisia has been one of the few states to have a repatriation agreement of illegal immigrants with Italy, an agreement that has worked so far, but only with those who come without documents tracked and sent back to Tunisia. Agreement, above all, that it cannot hold up against current flowswhich see thousands of Tunisians arrive, for example, in Holland, after having passed through Italy.

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