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| | | | In Tunis, the EU pays a high price |
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By Jorge Liboreiro
Does the end justify the means? Ask Brussels.
Following weeks of febrile speculation and whispered rumours, the European Union has finally signed its memorandum of understanding with Tunisia. The deal, whose presentation was delayed several times, is structured around five thematic pillars: macro-economic stability, trade flows, the green transition, people-to-people contacts and migration.
“In times of geopolitical uncertainties, it is important to deepen cooperation with our strategic partners,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said after a meeting in Tunis with President Kais Saied.
For the occasion, von der Leyen was joined by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, giving a strong hint of the raison d'être behind the memorandum.
While the text still needs to be fleshed out into concrete proposals, some initial figures have emerged: as part of the deal, the EU has committed to providing €150 million in budget support for the Tunisian government, €105 million for migration management, €307.6 million for the development of a transmission line for renewable electricity and up to €150 million for the construction of a submarine fibre cable.
The eye-popping numbers – more than €700 million across several years – could be topped up with a €900-million envelope of macro-financial assistance, although this last part, which featured heavily in the reports that preceded the announcement, did not make it into the final wording as it depends on a separate loan that Tunis is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund.
In short, big money is on the table. But for the EU, a self-proclaimed advocate for human rights, the trade-off is more than financial.
Tunisia, the only country that moved closer to democracy as a result of the Arab Spring, has in recent years taken a sharp turn towards authoritarianism under the rule of Kais Saied, a man who two years ago staged a “self-coup” that dissolved parliament and expanded his presidential powers. Since the dramatic day, Saied has overseen a pronounced democratic backsliding, cracking down on civil society, undermining judicial independence and repressing freedom of speech.
Equally worrying, Saied has leaned heavily on racist narratives against black Africans. Earlier this year, Said drew a stark rebuke from the United Nations after he claimed that “hordes of illegal migrants” arriving from Sub-Saharan countries were part of a “criminal plan to change the composition of the demographic landscape of Tunisia” and were the source of “violence, unacceptable crimes and practices.”
The hateful rhetoric, reminiscent of the far-right conspiracy theory known as “great replacement,” has helped fuel a wave of violence against black people inside Tunisia, with multiple incidents of Sub-Saharan migrants left abandoned in the desert and pushed to the Libyan border. According to Human Rights Watch, documented abuses include “beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea, forced evictions, and theft of money and belongings.”
Needless to say, none of this was addressed by von der Leyen, Rutte and Meloni during their joint trip to Tunisia, even if the brutal situation is actually contributing to the problem – uncontrolled migration flows – that they’re trying to mitigate. Instead, the three leaders were all smiles during their photo-op with President Saied, hailing the memorandum as a diplomatic triumph.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior EU official admitted the memorandum does not include additional guarantees on human rights and the migration funding won’t be linked to the completion of any annual target. “We don't wire money to authorities to do as they please,” the official said, noting the majority of the €105 million for migration will be channelled through international organisations, with the rest going to the border guards in the form of vessels and radars.
However, as several MEPs pointed out during a tense hearing in the European Parliament, the EU will send €150 million in budget support, a large sum that will be injected directly into the government’s coffers and might prove hard to track down.
“It's very clear: a deal has been made with a dictator who’s cruel and who’s unreliable,” said Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch lawmaker who sits with the liberal group. “President Saied is an authoritarian ruler, he's not a good partner.”
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