After President Kaïs Saied declared on October 2 that he refused the “handout” from Brussels, the European Commission indicated again today that it still wanted to bring the discussions to a successful conclusion.
The European Commission affirmed on October 12 its desire to continue discussions with the Tunisian authorities for the implementation of a migration partnership despite “obstacles” and a quarrel with Tunis over European funds. The Tunisian government has returned to the European Union (EU) budgetary aid of 60 million euros which had been paid to it by Brussels, in an unprecedented approach on the part of a partner country, according to the Commission.
Tunisian President Kaïs Saied had affirmed the previous evening that this sum had been paid by the EU “without the Tunisian authorities having been informed beforehand”. “This method violates our dignity,” he said to explain the restitution. The funds were planned as part of a post-Covid recovery aid program, unrelated to those of the memorandum of understanding signed in July between the EU and Tunisia and which relates in particular to cooperation in migration matters . .
On October 2, Kaïs Saied declared that he rejected the “charity” of the EU. A few days later, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, stressed that the sum of 60 million euros had nevertheless been requested by Tunisia on August 31, and that this country was free to return the money . “The implementation of the memorandum of understanding should continue once Tunisia returns to the spirit of our strategic and global partnership based on mutual respect,” the Hungarian commissioner also scathed.
“A long-term effort”
European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer acknowledged on October 12 that the implementation of this memorandum of understanding had “still a long way to go”. But it “is very important, for Tunisia and for the European Union. This is a long-term effort. Yes, there are going to be obstacles, sometimes significant, on the road,” he conceded. “But the Commission continues and will continue to work on its implementation with the Tunisian authorities,” he assured.
This multi-part partnership, intended in particular to reduce arrivals in the EU of migrants from Tunisia, provides aid of 105 million euros to fight against irregular immigration , as well as direct budgetary aid of 150 million euros, while the country is facing serious economic difficulties.
The EU indicated that it had, within the framework of this memorandum of understanding, signed two contracts, one for 13 million euros with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the other for 8 million euros with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). These contracts are intended to ensure the protection of migrants in Tunisia, but also to increase the “voluntary returns” of these migrants to their countries of origin.
This EU-Tunisia partnership is the subject of controversy, linked in particular to concerns about attacks on the rights of migrants in this country. On Tuesday, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that more than a hundred African migrants intercepted at sea by the Tunisian national guard had been “expelled to Algeria” in mid-September, and left “without food or water” .
