Less than two weeks before the presidential election in Tunisia, the European Union (EU) is still struggling to define a coherent position towards Tunis and its head of state, Kaïs Saïed, the big favourite in the election scheduled for 6 October. And for good reason, the outgoing president has gradually eliminated all political opposition. Only two candidates, one of whom is imprisoned, have been authorised to run.
Faced with this democratic decline, Brussels is wondering about the best attitude to adopt towards Tunis in a note written by the European diplomatic service and communicated on July 7 to the twenty-seven foreign ministers, which The World got hold of.
The authors note that “Relations between the EU and Tunisia have become more complex”but that ” The EU continues to have a strong interest in preserving its partnership with Tunisia in order to ensure the stability of the country (including socio-economically), to promote respect for human rights, to pursue effective cooperation on migration management and to maintain its anchoring with Europe”.
But for this, recognize the authors of the document, “It will be a matter 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 sort of status quo that leaves many actors, both in European institutions and among human rights defenders, wondering.
“Arrests of key opposition figures”
Since July 2021, President Kaïs Saïed, elected in 2019, has continued to centralize power in his hands, gradually eliminating any institutional countervailing power and further restricting the role of civil society. Since 2023, “The democratic space has shrunk considerably due to the arrests of key opposition figures and other factors, such as the marginalization of political parties through electoral law reform.”
At the same time, “Freedom of expression has been severely restricted”as the government plans to review legislation on associations in order to further restrict their independence, their activities and their access to foreign funding.
The document also highlights the country's perilous economic situation: “There is no clear or publicly debated economic strategy in sightregret European diplomats. However, Tunisia is not expected to default on its external debt in the short term.”
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Source: Lemonde
