To analyse

Tunisia-Algeria, a rapprochement in the form of dependence?

Tunisian and Algerian presidents Kaïs Saïed and Abdelmadjid Tebboune on February 2, 2020 in Algiers.

© SLIM ABID/AFP

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2 mins

Algiers granted Tunis a loan of 200 million dollars with a low interest rate, accompanied by a donation of 100 million dollars.

This new gesture of solidarity from Algeria is the latest in a series made by the country towards its neighbour.

In Tunisia, however, they are numerous to criticize this rapprochement and to wonder what will be the political counterpart that their country will have to provide.

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Thursday, December 22, during his monthly meeting with the Algerian press broadcast on national television,

affirmed that his country would not let down Tunisia, which is in the midst of an economic and political crisis and which has been struggling for many months, to obtain a loan from the World Bank.

Opponents of Kaïs Saïed, the Tunisian president, fear a collapse.

Thus, Algeria has just granted a loan of 200 million dollars, as well as a donation of an additional 100 million to its neighbour.

Previously, Algiers insisted on selling electricity and gasoline to Tunisia at preferential rates.

She sent him sugar, while many raw materials are missing on the Tunisian market.

After the Covid-19 pandemic, Algerian tourists came in large numbers in 2022 to help the

.

A rapprochement constrained by necessity

Algiers denies wanting to interfere in Tunisian affairs.

“ 

explained President Tebboune.

But in fact, Tunisia's foreign policy is changing.

Many attribute the

to the rapprochement of Tunisians with Algiers and to the diplomatic influence that Algiers exerts on Tunisia.

This political change displeases many Tunisians, who criticize  President Saïed's "

 " with Algerian positions on several international and regional issues, ignoring the principle of neutrality historically adopted by Tunisian diplomacy.

Tunisia must endure, it must please its neighbours, be it Libya or Algeria.

Majid Bouden, Franco-Tunisian lawyer and economist, analyzes the relationship between Algiers and Tunis

Houda Ibrahim

For Majid Bouden, a Franco-Tunisian lawyer and economist, " 

 ", in particular by trading mainly with Europe, while Algeria is much more

.

However, the economist observes that the country finds itself today “ 

 ” vis-à-vis its neighbours, for lack of having taken the measure of its economic needs and specificities over the past 30 years.

Majid Bouden concludes: “ 

 »

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