Mediterranean leaders gathered on Sunday, July 23 in Rome, for a conference hosted by Italy, with the primary objective of extending an EU-backed agreement with Tunisia. The main goal is to effectively reduce the influx of migrants arriving at European shores.
Italy hosted Mediterranean leaders in Rome on Sunday at a conference aimed at extending an EU-backed deal with Tunisia to curb the arrival of migrants on European shores.
The summit convened by Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni laid the foundations for a fund to finance investment projects and support border controls, with a medium-term aim of better regulating migratory flows.
The day of talks was the “start of a process” that would be followed with a donors’ conference to finance investment projects and support border control, Meloni said, adding that no date had yet been set.
During the 2022 election campaign that brought her to power, the far-right Meloni vowed to “stop the disembarkation” of migrants in Italy, which the government puts at nearly 80,000 coastal arrivals since January, compared to 33,000 in the same period last year.
But while the government has put obstacles in the path of humanitarian ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean, it has failed to stop the departures themselves, which mostly originate in Tunisia and Libya.
Italy and the European Commission have sought to step up engagement with Tunisia, promising funding if it stems emigration from its territory.
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Meloni has also sought to act as an intermediary between Tunisia, cash-strapped and on the cusp of a major debt crisis, and the International Monetary Fund, where a nearly $2 billion bailout package for the North African country has stalled amid an IMF demand for structural reforms.
Last week, the EU signed a memorandum of understanding with Tunisia that provides for 105 million euros in direct European aid to prevent the departure of migrant boats and combat smugglers.
The deal also provides for more Tunisians who arrive illegally to be repatriated, and for sub-Saharan African migrants in Tunisia to be sent back to their countries of origin.
A much larger EU package for Tunisia, a long-term loan of around 900 million euros proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in June, is conditional on approval of the IMF loan.
A senior European diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the EU is hoping for similar partnerships with Egypt and Morocco.
Attending the conference on Sunday were the presidents of Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritania, along with EU chiefs von der Leyen and Charles Michel, plus Filippo Grandi, head of the UN refugee agency.
Prime ministers from Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta and Niger were also present, and Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait sent ministers.
Notably absent were representatives from France and Spain.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
