Rome and Tunis have been operating a strategic rapprochement for several weeks. They have several files on which they have an interest in agreeing.
This Tuesday, Giorgia Meloni will be the first leader of a European country to set foot on Tunisian soil since Kaïs Saïed took full power almost two years ago. She will be received in Carthage with all respect.
For several weeks, Tunis and Rome have displayed and staged their excellent relations. Through travel or press releases on both sides, the two Mediterranean countries are actively collaborating.
The first file that brings them together is that of migrations. As flows explode – the Tunisian coast guard says it stopped five times more boats in the first quarter than in the same period in 2022 – Italy, which is at the forefront of arrivals, wants to contain them at all costs.
To support its neighbor who is going through an acute political and economic crisis, Rome is turning into a VRP for Tunis with Brussels and international bodies. Italy is thus campaigning for the IMF to start disbursing loans to Tunisia without the latter having to undertake the painful reforms demanded immediately.
The objective is clear, to prevent Tunisia from being socially destabilized at the risk of seeing even more boats heading for Italy.