EU considers aid to Tunisia to boost economy, reduce migrant flows

The European Union on Sunday said it is considering more than 1bn euros in aid to boost crisis-hit Tunisia’s economy and reduce the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.The North African country, highly indebted and in talks for an IMF bailout loan, is a gateway for migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the dangerous voyages to Europe.The EU is ready to offer Tunisia 900mn euros in long-term aid plus 150mn euros in immediate support in a bid to "strengthen our relationship”, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on a joint visit with the Italian and Dutch prime ministers.The aid would be contingent on approval of the nearly $2bn loan currently under negotiation with the International Monetary Fund, according to a document posted on the European Commission’s website.But Tunisian President Kais Saied again on Tuesday rejected what he termed the "diktats” of the Washington-based lender.Aside from trade and investment, the EU package would help Tunisia with border management and to combat human trafficking, with support worth 100mn euros this year, von der Leyen said."We both have a vast interest in breaking the cynical business model of smugglers and traffickers,” she said. "It is horrible to see how they deliberately risk human lives for profit.” She said other joint projects with the bloc would help Tunisia export clean renewable energy to Europe, and deliver high-speed broadband, all with the aim of creating jobs and to "boost growth here in Tunisia”.Von der Leyen, after the four-way talks with Saied, said she hoped an EU-Tunisia agreement could be signed before the next European summit later this month. She stressed that the EU is Tunisia’s top trade and investment partner and had "supported Tunisia’s path to democracy” since it became the birthplace of the Arab Spring popular revolts in 2011, describing it as "a long and difficult road”.Von der Leyen visited Tunisia with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte for talks with Saied, who has assumed near total governing powers over the country since 2021.Rights groups have accused him of an "authoritarian drift” for restricting civil liberties and jailing opposition activists.Andrea Cellino, of the Middle East Institute Switzerland, said the EU should be doing more to hold Saied’s administration accountable.