Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits Tunisia amid rapprochement

2023-06-05T23:38:58.445Z

Highlights: Tunisia and Italy are in the middle of a political crisis. The two countries are trying to find a way out of the crisis. They are also trying to work out a way to get more money from the European Union. The European Union wants more money to be spent on infrastructure projects. The EU wants to see more money spent on education and health care for the poor. The U.S. wants to reduce the number of people living in poverty, especially in the poorest areas.

Rome and Tunis have been making a strategic rapprochement for several weeks. They have several issues on which they have an interest in agreeing.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits Tunisia amid rapprochement

Rome and Tunis have been making a strategic rapprochement for several weeks. They have several issues on which they have an interest in agreeing.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni on December 29, 2022 in Rome. © GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE / REUTERS

Text by: RFI Follow

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With our correspondent in Tunis, Amira Souilem

On Tuesday, she will be the first leader of a European country to set foot on Tunisian soil since Kaïs Saïed took full power nearly two years ago. Giorgia Meloni will be received in Carthage with all respect.

For several weeks, Tunis and Rome have displayed and staged their excellent relations. Through trips or communiqués on both sides, the two Mediterranean countries are actively collaborating.

The first issue that brings them together is that of migration. While the flows are exploding – the Tunisian coast guard says it stopped five times more boats in the first quarter than in the same period in 2022 – Italy, which is on the front line of arrivals, wants to contain them at all costs.

To support its neighbour, which is going through an acute political and economic crisis, Rome is becoming Tunis's sales representative to Brussels and international bodies. Italy is thus campaigning for the IMF to start disbursing loans to Tunisia without the latter having to undertake the painful reforms demanded immediately.

The objective is clear: to prevent Tunisia from being socially destabilized at the risk of seeing even more boats heading for Italy.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits Tunisia amid rapprochement

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visits Tunisia amid rapprochement

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