Italian Foreign Minister spoke to IMF Managing Director on the matter and urged her to be flexible in order to avoid a possible financial collapse of the North African country
Italy is pressing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unblock negotiations with Tunisia, which have been stalled for months. Deep reforms are required of President Kais Saied to release these credits.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Reuters news agency on Sunday that his government backed granting a $1.9 billion loan to Tunisia, fearing the country could be destabilized without these funds, which would trigger a new wave of irregular migration to Europe.
Tajani spoke about the matter with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and urged her to be flexible in order to avoid a possible financial collapse of the North African country.
“I insisted on the need for the Fund to intervene quickly in favor of the stabilization and growth of Tunisia, by providing economic and financial support,” he said.
The head of Italian diplomacy explained that he had raised the problem with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and that he had also raised the issue with his Slovenian and Croatian counterparts on Friday, ahead of the next meeting of ministers of EU foreign affairs.
When it took office in October, the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pledged to reduce illegal migration flows, but the numbers have only increased since then. According to unofficial United Nations data, 12,000 of the irregular migrants who reached Italian territory this year set sail from Tunisia, compared to 1,300 during the same period in 2022.
The issue took an even more dramatic turn in late February when at least 86 migrants died in a shipwreck off southern Italy.
“Uncontrolled irregular migration can only be reduced by improving conditions of security and economic stability,” Tajani said, adding that Italy was working on expanding training opportunities for Tunisians as an alternative to the migration.
