Sharjah24 – AFP: The European Union on Sunday offered major financial support to crisis-hit Tunisia, to boost its economy and reduce the flow of irregular migrants across the Mediterranean Sea.
The North African country, highly indebted and in talks for an IMF bailout loan, is a gateway for migrants and asylum-seekers attempting the dangerous voyages to Europe.
The EU is ready to offer Tunisia a 900 million euro package plus 150 million euros in immediate support, European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said on a joint visit with the Italian and Dutch prime ministers.
Aside from trade and investment, it would help Tunisia with border management and to combat human trafficking, with support worth 100 million euros this year, she said.
"We both have a vast interest in breaking the cynical business model of smugglers and traffickers," said von der Leyen. "It is horrible to see how they deliberately risk human lives for profit."
She said other EU projects would help Tunisia export clean renewable energy to the bloc, and deliver high-speed broadband, all with the aim of creating "jobs and boost growth here in Tunisia".
Von der Leyen, after talks with President Kais Saied, said she hoped an EU-Tunisia agreement could be signed at the next European summit later this month.
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