Tunisia and the European Union (EU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on strategic and comprehensive cooperation in various fields, including economy and migration.
The signing ceremony was attended by Tunisian President Kais Saied, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
The agreement covers five pillars; macro-economic stability, trade, and investment, green energy transition, people-to-people contacts, and migration.
Under the deal, the two sides will work together to address a number of issues as regards migration, with the EU ready to provide financial assistance for that purpose.
Von der Leyen said: “The fifth pillar (of the memorandum) is migration, where we need effective cooperation, more than ever … We will also increase our coordination on search and rescue operations.”
“And we agreed that we will cooperate on border management, anti-smuggling, return and addressing root causes, in full respect of the international law,” she added.
The commission president highlighted: “For this, we will make available more than EUR 100 million ($112 million) of EU funding.”
Last month, the EU chief executive affirmed that the EU is ready to provide Tunisia with over €1 billion in different areas, including trade, investment, and energy cooperation.
