Under pressure from increased immigrants arrives in Italy from Tunisia, today a joint visit to this North African country was made by the President of the Commission, the Prime Minister of Italy and her Dutch counterpart.

During a joint press conference held after contacts in Tunisia, Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union is considering allocating more than 1 billion euros in aid to Tunisia to help develop its damaged economy, save its public finances, but above all, in managing the immigration crisis.

In particular, the Chairman of the Commission stated that 900 million euros will be allocated for macroeconomic assistance, along with the provision of 150 million euros for budget support “immediately after reaching an agreement”, but without going into details. However, he said the EU would provide €100 million to Tunisia for border control, search and rescue operations and related anti-trafficking measures, and for returns based on “respect for human rights”.

The loan program is the main condition

The EU, like other international players, has conditioned its support for Tunisia on the completion of its loan program from the International Monetary Fund. North African President Qais Said rejected the key reforms such a plan entails.

In fact, just a few hours before his meeting with European officials The President of Tunisia said that his country would not become a “border guard” of Europe..

According to Italian press reports, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tagiani will travel to Washington this week to persuade the IMF to disburse the first tranche of $1.9 billion under the loan program. But the Tunisian president has made it clear that the migrant crisis in Europe should not be handled by his country.

“The solution will not be at the expense of Tunisia … we cannot be guardians for their countries,” its president said during a visit to the port of Sfax, the main departure point for migrants seeking to reach Italy by boat.

Meloni’s second visit in a week

Italy has long been pushing for a Turkish-style partnership deal with Tunisia., which will allow Rome to deport migrants who are not eligible for asylum in the country. Georgia Meloni, however, won major concessions from EU home ministers last Thursday thanks to a new migration and asylum pact that now allows a person to return to “transit” countries even if a person is only there for a few days or weeks.

Italy, Greece and other Mediterranean countries are concerned that the number of migrants will increase significantly this summer. This is the second visit to Tunisia this week by the Prime Minister of Italy, which won the election thanks to its commitment to fight illegal immigration.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was also in Rome last Thursday, where he spoke with the Italian prime minister about immigration, “defending external borders” and fighting traffickers in Mediterranean waters.