Italy's leader keeps the focus on migration on her fourth visit to Tunisia in a year
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Days after Tunisia’s president insisted that he remains unwilling to let Europe outsource migration problems to his country, Italy’s prime minister acknowledged Wednesday that the North African nation “cannot become the arrival point for migrants coming from the rest of Europe.”
On her fourth visit to Tunisia in the past year, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sidestepped tensions over how to manage migration via the Mediterranean. She instead praised Tunisia and Italy’s shared priorities in fighting human traffickers and repatriating African migrants back to their home countries.
Meloni and Tunisian President Kais Saied signed new accords as part of Italy’s “Mattei Plan” for Africa, a continent-wide strategy aimed at growing economic opportunities and preventing migration to Europe. Meloni also promised to expand efforts to repatriate migrants to their home countries.