Tunisia is trying to secure funds from the European Union as President Saied’s government struggles with reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrived in Tunisia on Tuesday morning for talks with Tunisian leaders, during which she was expected to address the growing number of migrants fleeing Tunisia to Italy.
Meloni was received at the airport by Tunisian Prime Minister Naglaa Boudin, and then met with President Kais Saied. The meeting dealt with several issues such as illegal immigration, energy and financial issues facing Tunisia.
Tunisia is trying to secure funds from the European Union as President Saied’s government struggles with reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund.
In April, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani announced a plan to train 4,000 Tunisian workers in Tunisia and then bring them to Italy on work visas and provide them with job opportunities as part of new efforts to combat the influx of migrants.
Taiani explained that Tunisia is the first country with which Italy concludes this type of bilateral project, as Rome is struggling to stem the sharp increase in the number of immigrants arriving in its territory this year.
According to the Italian Ministry of the Interior, more than 50,000 migrants arrived by “death boats” in Italy between January and June, compared to more than 20,000 in the same period in 2022.
Tunisians make up 7 percent of the total number of illegal immigrants to Italy, and for some time now, migrants of several other nationalities are increasingly leaving for Italy from Tunisia instead of Libya.
