Rome: Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday pledged his country\u2019s support to Tunisia \u201cin the important challenges the country faces.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a meeting with Tunisian President Kais Saied after his participation on Sunday in a forum on migration and development in the Mediterranean region organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Mattarella reaffirmed to his counterpart \u201dthe deep and concrete bond which links Tunisia and Italy together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing Saied, Mattarella said: \u201cIn the past months you have met with Prime Minister Meloni several times, and you are well aware of Italy\u2019s positions, orientations and initiatives to support your country.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent months, Meloni has been very active in explaining Tunisia\u2019s viewpoint to other countries regarding negotiations for a loan of nearly $1.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
The IMF requires Tunisia\u2019s government to carry out a series of reforms before giving the loan. However, Tunisia is asking for a first tranche of funding to be released immediately, while the rest of the loan can be paid in line with the progress of reforms.<\/p>\n
Last week, the EU signed an agreement with Tunisia that will provide \u20ac105 million ($117 million) in direct European aid to prevent the departure of migrant boats from the North African country and combat people smugglers. Italy has been strongly lobbying in the EU Commission to support this agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe friendship and the level of cooperation between our peoples and our countries are very high, and we are on your side. We want to cooperate more and more,\u201d Mattarella said.<\/p>\n
On the sidelines of his visit to Rome, Saied had several bilateral meetings. He discussed with Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah \u201cthe historical fraternal relations\u201d between their countries \u201cin order to develop them in the interest of both peoples,\u201d said a communique issued by the Tunisian presidency.<\/p>\n
Saied and Dbeibah also discussed \u201cthe need to further strengthen opportunities for reciprocal coordination and consultation on issues of common interest,\u201d beginning with \u201cthe phenomenon of irregular immigration and trafficking in human beings, and its negative effects not only on Tunisia and Libya but also on the Mediterranean region.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Tunisian presidency, in a meeting with the UAE\u2019s President Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Saied praised \u201cthe strong fraternal relations and cooperation\u201d between their countries and stressed \u201cthe promising opportunities \u2026 to further develop their historical ties, notably in the fields of renewable and alternative energy, water desalination, healthcare and education, and other sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rome: Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Monday pledged his country\u2019s support to Tunisia \u201cin the important challenges the country faces.\u201d In a meeting with Tunisian President Kais Saied after his participation on Sunday in a forum on migration and development in the Mediterranean region organized by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Mattarella reaffirmed to his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345085,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345069","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n