European leaders visiting Tunisia held out the promise of more than 1 billion euros in financial aid as well as investments in undersea data cables and renewable energy Sunday in an effort to restore stability to the North African country — and to stem migration from its shores to Europe.
Tunisia’s increasingly autocratic president hosted the leaders of Italy, the Netherlands and the European Commission for talks aimed at smoothing the way for an international financial bailout of the increasingly troubled country.
Support from Tunisian President Kais Saied is crucial to any European Union deal to curb migration.
On the eve of the talks, Saied made an unannounced visit to a migrant camp in the coastal city of Sfax, a central jumping-off point for boat journeys crossing the Mediterranean to Italy.
Saied spoke with families living in the camp, and pleaded for international aid for Africans who converge on Tunisia as a transit point to reach Europe.
His caring words, and sympathetic images posted on the president’s Facebook page, contrasted sharply with Saied’s stance earlier this year, when he stoked racist abuse of Black African migrants in Tunisia with a speech railing against a perceived plot to erase his country’s Arab identity.
The president and Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden met Sunday with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
After the talks, von der Leyen announced a five-point program to support Tunisia, including up to 1.05 billion euros (USD 1.1 billion in aid for Tunisia’s indebted budget. The plan will be discussed with all 27 EU countries at their next summit in late June, she said. In addition to the budgetary aid, the EU is discussing investment in high-speed broadband and other digital infrastructure for Tunisia, and 300 million euros in hydrogen and other renewable energy projects, von der Leyen said.
The plan also includes 100 million euros for Tunisian authorities to carry out search-and-rescue operations for migrants and anti-smuggling operations, she said.
Amid criticism from migrant advocacy groups about forced repatriations, von der Leyen and Rutte insisted the program would respect human rights. The aim is to “kill that cynical business model of the boat smuggler. Migration is at this moment one of the most important issues facing all of us,” Rutte said. Stemming migration is especially important for the far-right Meloni, who was making her second trip in a week to Tunisia. Italy is the destination for most Europe-bound migrants leaving from the North African nation, whose economy is teetering toward collapse.