No reform of the Pact on Migration will lead to a real breakthrough without the support of the countries of North Africa. It is with this conviction that Ursula von der Leyen, Giorgia Meloni and Martk Rutte will land in Tunis for a crucial meeting for the stability of the Mediterranean, the one with President Kais Saied. Two prime ministers and the president of the Commission, one goal: to cash in on Tunisia's full cooperation on migrants. It won't be easy.
In fact, it will be very difficult. But the three European leaders have a double wild card to play: an investment package to be put in place quickly and diplomatic work to unlock the $ 1.9 billion aid that the International Monetary Fund, faced with Saied's resistance to reforms, has so far blocked.
ANSA Agency
Fitch downgrades Tunisia over financial crisis - Economy
'The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has lowered the default rating of the long-term issuer in Tunisia's foreign currencies from CCC+ to CCC- , due to delays in negotiations to obtain a new loan from the International Monetary Fund (ANSA)
In Brussels, to give a title to the trio that will go to the Presidential Palace of Carthage, they used the term Team Europe. In fact, the Tunisian dossier is more than ever a priority on the European table. The agreement on the new Pact on Migration and Asylum signed in Luxembourg, in addition to being already rather precarious, has a key point within it: the possibility of returning migrants not only to the countries of origin but also to the "safe" transit countries. For the sobbing EU repatriation strategy, Saied's yes would be a turning point. And for Italy, par excellence the country of first landing of those who sail from Tunisia, the success would be double. Sunday's mission - agreed on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit last week - represents a clear step forward for Meloni. Rome was the first to bring the Tunisian dossier to the tables in Brussels, explaining that an economic and political crisis in the country would have very serious consequences on migration. The European mission shows that it has been heard.
Meloni will return to Tunis just five days after his first meeting with Saied. Together with von der Leyen and Rutte, he will outline to President Saied a package of support ranging from local investments by European companies to the fight against illegal smuggling of migrants, up to energy cooperation. On this last point, relations between Rome and Tunis have already made a leap in level, with the project of the Elmed electric interconnector, whose installation will be taken care of by the Italian Terna. Then there is the question of IMF aid, which is more uphill than ever. But if until a couple of months ago the EU explained that it would move its support only after an agreement between Tunis and the Fund, now the strategy could change and see Brussels act independently.
Italy is moving on several fronts. From Sunday, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will be on a mission to the US and the Tunisian dossier will be among the priority issues. The Foreign Minister will have a bilateral meeting with IMF Director General Kristalina Georgieva, to whom he will reiterate the urgency of an agreement with Tunis. Of course, on the other side there is Kais Saied and the accusations, in Tunisia and beyond, of the authoritarian turn impressed on the country.
A turning point culminated in the arrest, last April, of Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamic party Ennhahda. The Tunisian president is not the man who sends them to say and, in recent days, has already said 'no' to any "dikitat from abroad". In the Carthage meeting, however, it is not excluded that von der Leyen will raise one of the main issues of relations with Tunisia, that of protecting the rights of migrants stranded in the Maghreb country. The Tunisian Observatory on Migration, not surprisingly, in these hours has underlined the government's commitment on the issue of rights and alignment with international law. But, on the treatment of migrants, accusations are already piling up in Italy and Europe. "Tunisia and Libya are authoritarian regimes, enough with cynical propaganda," said the secretary of the Italian Left, Nicola Fratoianni.