The Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied what was circulated regarding the European Union’s disbursement of 60 million Euros to support the Tunisian budget, stressing that the country’s authorities did not express any approval to disburse this amount.
In response to news being circulated in this regard on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement quoted by the Tunisian News Agency: “The Tunisian authorities have not expressed any approval for the disbursement of 60 million Euros by the European Union to support the Tunisian budget.”
This denial comes while Tunisian President Kais Saied rejected a financial offer from the European Union to support measures to combat irregular migration, stressing that his country will not accept anything resembling charity or favor, and that the proposal contradicts the memorandum of understanding that was signed in Tunisia last summer.
Voices are rising in Tunisia rejecting European pressures aimed at curbing irregular migration through Tunisian cooperation to guard Europe’s maritime borders. The Tunisian Foreign Minister said in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month: “Tunisia will not accept the hidden settlement of irregular migrants in the country.”
Inas Abdulkareem