The Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed, Thursday, April 4, 2024, the opening of a Tunisian consulate in the Italian city of Bologna, “embodying the State’s continuing effort to bring consular services closer to members of our community and through belief in the role tasked to it in supporting the national development effort,” according to a press release published for this purpose.
The ministry indicated that this is part of the implementation of the instructions of the President of the Republic aimed at further informing the Tunisian community living abroad and as part of the desire to intensify consular deployment. The new consulate will cover the provinces of “Emilia-Romagna” and “Marche”, which are residences to around 40,000 Tunisian citizens, bringing the number of Tunisian consular missions in Italy to six (6) missions (Consulate General in Milan and 5 consulates in Rome, Naples, Genoa, Palermo and Bologna).
The consular district includes the following Italian cities: Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Ravenna, Forli-Cesena, Rimini, Pesaro-Urbino, Ancona, Macerata, Fermo, Ascoli Piceno. On March 20, 2024, Afif Al-Trauli took office as consul of the Tunisian Republic in Bologna after his designation by the President of the Republic. At the start of next May, the consulate’s work team will be strengthened by a certain number of diplomatic, administrative and technical agents.
The ministry confirmed that all required procedures have been conducted and the needed licenses have been obtained by the Italian central and regional authorities and that the logistical preparation and coordination with the relevant Italian and Tunisian parties, as well as the preparation of the consulate headquarters with the essential equipment, are continuing rapidly, it is understood that it will start, during May 2024, to provide all consular services for the benefit of the Tunisian community residing in the consular department under the best conditions, guaranteeing that they are notified and that their rights are protected, as well as explore and fortify opportunities for Tunisian-Italian decentralized cooperation in various areas with the two provinces covered by the consulate, according to the ministry’s press release.
In a direct and remote call on April 3, 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Ammar informed the Tunisian consul in Bologna of the advancement of preparations for the opening of the consulate and the start of the provision of services to the Tunisian community. He gave his instructions to expedite the completion of all procedures and begin the works as soon as possible and recommended that critical attention be given to the community and work to involve them in the national development effort. The Tunisian community welcomed the decision to create this consulate, which will permit it to avoid travelling hundreds of kilometres to the Tunisian consulates in Genoa and Rome, according to the ministry press release.