The funds were seen by the president as a form of charity and ridiculous, as he refused last week to authorize the visit of a European Parliament delegation whose task was “to find out about the progress of the program and the situation in Tunisia inform”.
Late last month, the EU announced that it would begin adopting funds allocated to Tunisia under the deal “to reduce the number of irregular migrants” arriving on European shores from the North African country.
The first transfer of 42 million euros of the total 105 million euros will be made shortly; Another 24 million 700 thousand are in progress for ongoing programs, sources from the pan-European grouping said.
But President Saied found the certainties uncomfortable and came forward with a sharp clarification: Tunisia, which accepts cooperation, does not accept anything that looks like charity or favors, because our country and our people do not want compassion.
Therefore, Tunisia rejects what the EU recently announced (on the means), added a statement from the presidency on the meeting of the ruler with Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar.
Despite disagreements with the powerful European bloc, the government of the small North African country, mired in a deep economic crisis, assured that it is doing everything in its power to dismantle human trafficking criminal networks.
The Tunisian city of Sfax (East) is one of the preferred locations for human traffickers to cross to Europe due to its proximity to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
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