Rédaction Africa Links 24 with La Presse avec TAP
Published on 2024-04-17 20:49:37
She praised the efforts made by Italy to strengthen this cooperation, which, she said, resulted in the signing last summer of a memorandum of understanding on a strategic and global partnership between Tunisia and the European Union, laying the groundwork for “fair cooperation with Mediterranean countries.”
This visit, the fourth I have made to Tunisia in the span of a year, reflects the strength of the friendship between President Saied and myself. A friendship based primarily on the common interest of the two countries and also testifying to the strength of the historical friendship established between the two countries, she added.
The three agreements signed this Wednesday between Italy and Tunisia, highlighted Meloni, reflect the political will to establish bilateral cooperation, based on concrete and tangible actions, and represent “the cornerstone” of the establishment of a new model of cooperation between Tunisia and Italy.
She announced that several other strategic agreements will be signed soon with Tunisia, in the areas of defense, culture, and education, underscoring the importance given by Italy to cooperation with Tunisia, especially within the framework of the “Mattei Plan” (a strategic project aimed at establishing new partnerships between Europe and Africa).
In this regard, Meloni emphasized that cooperation between Tunisia and Italy has led to many “positive results” regarding the issue of irregular migration and the fight against human trafficking.
“Italy is aware that Tunisia cannot be a country of arrival for migrants,” she said, calling for the need to provide additional joint efforts in the area of legal migration.
She also stressed the imperative to combat smugglers and “mafia organizations” that exploit the distress of migrants and their inalienable right to a dignified life to make ever easier profits.
Meloni affirmed Italy’s willingness to develop cooperation with African countries within the framework of the new approach adopted by the European Union.
Earlier, President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed affirmed in his meeting with Giorgia Meloni, “Tunisia’s firm and unwavering stance that refuses to be a host country or a transit country for irregular migrants.”
In July 2023, the President of the Republic Kaïs Saïed, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the Italian Council Giorgia Meloni, and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte agreed to launch the implementation of the strategic and global partnership, jointly announced by the European Union and Tunisia on 11 June 2023.
They witnessed the signing in Tunis on the same day of the memorandum of understanding between European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Migration and Tunisians Abroad Mounir Ben Rjiba, thus opening “a new chapter in the relations between the European Union and Tunisia,” according to a statement released on 16 July 2023 by the European Commission.
The memorandum of understanding is based on five pillars: macro-economic stability, trade and investments, green energy transition, rapprochement between peoples, migration, and mobility.
The President of the Italian Council is currently on a visit to Tunisia on Wednesday, leading a high-level delegation including the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Higher Education and Research, and the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Read the original article(French) on La Presse Tunisie
