Speaking to Tunisie Numérique, political activist Hatem Mliki shared his thoughts concerning Tunisia’s participation in the Italian-African summit. Mliki admitted the value of meetings between presidents, but he voiced reservations regarding the summit being the appropriate venue for examining certain topics.
Mliki pointed out that the issue of illegal immigration, a problem confronted by both African countries and Europe, should ideally be addressed within the frameworks of the European Union and the African Union, despite Italy being greatly influenced by African immigration.
He likewise underscored the prominent absence of high-level representation from pivotal countries such as Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco at the summit. Mliki assumed that this might be due to a lack of prior coordination at the African Union level or perhaps an intentional decision by these nations to reject the summit, viewing it as an Italian-African initiative rather than a broader European Union dialogue.
He stressed that the summit presents a chance for Tunisia to raise crucial issues, such as the inhumane treatment and forced deportation of irregular migrants in Italy, and to pursue clarity on the content of the security cooperation between Tunisia and Italy, which remains unclear. He stressed the direct impact of these issues on Tunisia.
Furthermore, our speaker added that it is necessary to differentiate between different negotiation frameworks in these summits. He reasoned that it is unfit to negotiate immigration issues in exchange for aid, as the immigration agenda should be kept detached from economic and financial cooperation. Effective and fruitful discussions on these matters, he advised, should be accomplished through other channels, such as the Tunisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Government.
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