Antonio Tajani, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, called on the European Union on Thursday to invest in Tunisia’s stability as a means to curtail irregular migration flows, as reported by the Italian news agency Nova.
Upon his arrival at the European Union Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Toledo, Tajani emphasized, “The European Union must work towards the stability of Tunisia by investing in the country and implementing the memorandum of understanding to halt irregular migration.”
He added, “I believe it’s important to work with Tunisia, and for Italy, the memorandum of understanding was a good choice made by the European Union. The meeting between Saied and von der Leyen, Rutte, and Meloni was extremely positive. We must strive for the stability of the country and invest more funds to implement the agreement and cease irregular migration.”
Tajani further stated, “It’s evident that we also support the agreement between Tunisia and Libya to assist migrants crossing the desert. We need to protect the lives of these individuals while simultaneously being resolute in combating crime.”
Concluding his remarks, he noted, “The Tunisian police are currently performing well, but we are prepared to do more. We have proposed providing the Tunisian authorities with new Italian patrol boats to curb criminal activities. Human trafficking organizations are the same entities involved in drug and arms smuggling, I believe. It’s highly significant to implement the agreement between the European Union and Tunisia, but also to secure greater flexibility from the International Monetary Fund to achieve economic stability within the country.”
