Less than two weeks before the presidential elections in Tunisia, the European Union (EU) is still struggling to define a coherent position vis-à-vis Tunisia and its head of state, Kaïs Saïed, the big favourite in the elections scheduled for 6 October. And rightly so, the outgoing president has gradually eliminated all political opposition. Only two candidates were allowed to compete, one of whom is in prison.
Faced with this democratic deterioration, Brussels is asking itself what is the best attitude to adopt towards Tunisia in a note written by the European diplomatic service and communicated on July 7 to the twenty-seven Ministers of Foreign Affairs, who The world was obtained.
The authors point out that “EU-Tunisia relations have become more complex”but that “ The EU remains keen to preserve its partnership with Tunisia to ensure the country’s stability (including at the socio-economic level), promote respect for human rights, maintain effective cooperation in migration management and maintain its anchoring with Europe.”.
But for this reason, the authors of the document recognize, “It will be a question of finding a difficult balance between the EU’s credibility in terms of values and its interest in maintaining a constructive engagement with the Tunisian authorities”. A kind of status quo that leaves many actors, both in the European institutions and among human rights defenders, in doubt.
“Arrests of key opposition figures”
Since July 2021, President Kaïs Saïed, elected in 2019, has continued to centralize power in his hands, progressively eliminating any institutional counterpower and increasingly restricting the role of civil society. Since 2023, “Democratic space has been significantly reduced due to the arrests of key opposition figures and other factors, such as the marginalization of political parties through the electoral law reform.”
At the same time, “Freedom of expression has been severely restricted”while the government plans to revise legislation on associations to further restrict their independence, activities and access to foreign funding.
The document also highlights the country’s dangerous economic situation: “There is no clear or publicly debated economic strategy in sightEuropean diplomats regret. However, Tunisia is not expected to default on its external debt in the near term.
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