The US Secretary of State expressed his concern about the situation in Tunisia, thus sounding the second warning of the possibility of the collapse of the state of Tunisia which President Saed is the sole ruler. The European Union's foreign policy chief had expressed his fear of Tunisia's collapse too.

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Editing | Tony Wilde

Politics news section
March 23, 2023 - Washington - Tunisia

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    US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned on Wednesday (March 22, 2023) that Tunisia urgently needs to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, after the European Union expressed concern about the deteriorating political and economic situation in this country.

"The most important thing they can do in Tunisia from an economic point of view is to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund," Blinken said in response to a question about Tunisia during a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We strongly encourage them to do so because the economy may be heading into the unknown," he added.

Tunisia is struggling under mounting debt and price hikes exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It reached a tentative agreement in October for a new loan from the International Monetary Fund of about $2 billion.

Blinken also expressed his concerns about the political transformation of Tunisia under President Kais Saied, who has monopolized all powers since July 25, 2021. The opposition accused Saied of carrying out a coup in the country from which the Arab Spring began a decade ago.

The World Bank sought to ensure reforms in Tunisia and recently expressed its concern about a series of racist attitudes against the backdrop of statements by President Kais Saied in which he criticized the large presence of illegal immigrants in his country and talked about a conspiracy to change the "demographic composition" in the country.

On Monday, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, announced that the bloc was concerned about the deteriorating political and economic situation in Tunisia and feared its collapse. And he said

"If Tunisia collapses, it threatens an influx of migrants towards the European Union and causes instability in the Middle East and North Africa region. We want to avoid this situation."

On Tuesday, the Tunisian Foreign Ministry expressed its rejection of Borrell's statements, considering them "exaggerated." The opposition accused Saeed of staging a coup in the country from which the Arab Spring was launched a decade ago.

 

A.H./A.H. (AFP)