An intervention on human rights in Tunisia was expected. It was finally the question of the ongoing rapprochement between the Maghreb country, China, Iran, and Russia that was raised at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council held on June 24.
A dispatch from the Italian agency Ansa announced on Friday, June 21, that the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, had included a question on Tunisia on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council of June 24. Observers then made the link between this initiative of the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and a summons from the law firm William Bourdon, which questioned him on various human rights violations in Tunisia.
But they found no trace of this initiative until the press office of the Foreign Affairs Council indicated that the question was listed under “miscellaneous”, that is, among the subjects discussed at the end of the day.
Change of tropism
Josep Borrell is one of those who were scalded by their experience with Tunisia. He remembers in particular that Tunis had refused to receive a delegation of MEPs in September 2023, accusing the 27 of interfering in the country’s sovereignty. Since then, the European diplomat has not addressed the issue of Tunisia. Until the subject was included in the Council’s agenda on 24 June, during the Foreign Affairs session in Luxembourg.
During his speech on Monday, however, Josep Borrell did not, as many had believed, mention the human rights situation in Tunisia. He surprised his entire audience by starting an unexpected reflection on “Tunisia moving closer to Russia, China, and Iran”, a new tropism of the Tunisian authorities while the country is “a long-standing important partner of the EU”.
Concerned about this new diplomatic orientation, Josep Borrell, therefore, invited the 27, “in light of the latest internal and external developments, to carry out a collective assessment and avoid certain events that lead to rapprochements with the Chinese, Russian and Iranian governments”. The high representative also considered that the issue would merit, in the future, a more serious debate within the European institutions.
