The European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunis on 16 July promising around €1 billion to the beleaguered economy while handing a de facto political lifeline to President Kaïs Saïed...

This triggered an anti-migrant riot in popular parts of Sfax in what looked to many like a repeat of the wave of racist violence that followed President Kaïs Saïed's 21 February speech in which he accused incomers of wanting to 'change the demographic make-up' of Tunisia and turn it into 'just another African country that doesn't belong to the Arab and Islamic nations any more'...

Von der Leyen's trip to Tunisia earlier this month to shake hands on a €1bn 'cash for migrant control' pact with President Kaïs Saïed may have swayed some key votes (AC Vol 64 No 13 Brussels deal rescues Saïed)...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen – flanked by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and his counterpart Giorgia Meloni of Italy – swept up the steps of the Palace of Carthage on 11 June with €150 million in immediate budget support to President Kaïs Saïed – and a promise of a further €900m...

Brussels is putting the strength of the EU's borders ahead of the concerns it also expresses for human rights analysts say (Dispatches 13/6/23 Brussels rescues Kaïs Saïed with cash for migration control deal)...

President Kaïs Saïed is making good on his 28 December promise to crack down on what he calls 'the enemies of Tunisia'...

That a deal with Tunisia remains on the EU's priority list despite President Kaïs Saïed's remarks in February that 'urgent measures' were needed to combat 'hordes of illegal migrants' from sub-Saharan Africa underscores the political importance that the EU has attached to migration control (Dispatches 28/2/23 AU calls President Saïed's complaints about African migrations 'racialised hate speech')...