Tunisia slips away: Meloni defeated. The plan on migrant landings is aborted

Migrants, Tunisia exits the agreement and leaves Italy holding the bag

There is no good news on the matter Memorandum with Tunisia. The agreement between Europe and the president Saied it actually blew. It provided economic aid in exchange for limiting the flow of migrants towards the Italian coasts and had been strongly sponsored by Prime Minister Meloni. The agreement – we read in Repubblica – is collapsing on the economic side. On the funds that the EU promised to Tunisian president Saied. Resources that are partly still stuck in Brussels and in part they are refuse right from the African country. Result: collaboration in the fight against illegal migration it is suspended to say the least.

The agreement signed in July by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenby the prime minister, Giorgia Melonsby the Dutch Prime Minister Ruttein fact, is based on some cornerstones that point to stabilize Tunisian accounts and promote reforms The question, therefore – continues Repubblica – is precisely this. In the contacts that have taken place in the last few hours between the Commission and Saied’s government, the Tunisian representatives have in fact the agreement was frozen. Why? For two reasons. The first concerns him allocation of 150 million of euros aimed at stabilizing the budget of the African country. One dispensing without conditions. However, this has not yet been carried out.

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The disbursement, they explained at Palazzo Berlaymont, “touches the 2023 annual budget of the Commission” and “the procedure for its approval is subject to Coreper”, i.e. the committee that brings together the Representatives of the 27. And Coreper has not yet given the green light. Then there is one second tranche which amounts to around 200 million. Liquidity conditioned on the presentation of projects. Infrastructure, Coast Guard vehicles, training. But in this case it is the Tunisian executive that has communicated to its interlocutors in Brussels that this formula cannot work. Basically Tunis is asking to obtain these resources without conditionality and making them enter directly into the national budget.

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