Tunesia should declare what it is that they want from us and we shall figure out what we want from them.
well I chuckled, it’s ballsy to say the least. It’s not like I have any say in this but oddly enough after reading this, I feel even more like they should have it. It’s a refreshing stance.
Even for Tunisia €60 million is peanuts. For perspective Tunisia’s state budget is around €18 billions.
>In a bid to control the spiralling narrative, the Commission said on the record that €60 million had been effectively paid in budgetary support “following a request from the Tunisian government on the 31st of August.”
>
>Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood, took it a step further and publicly invited Tunisia to “wire back” the money if it did not want it. The Commissioner shared his message on X, formerly Twitter, with a screenshot of the Tunisian document asking for the €60 million to be released.
>
>”Implementation of the (memorandum) should continue once Tunisia returns to the spirit of our strategic & comprehensive partnership based on mutual respect,” Várhelyi said.
>
>Now, that spirit seems to be in tatters as Saied follows through on this threat.
I mean, they literally requested the money back?
I shall volunteer myself as a recipient for the money then if neither the EU, nor Tunesia are fond of it. Charity and aid by the EU are honorable acts I wish to support wholeheartedly!
EU in shambles
No more visas + tariffs should be the right answer
Stunning? Who is stunned by a dictator lying to the EU in 2023? Only the fascist like Meloni maybe.
Send just the 1/60th of that hot potato money my way, and I’ll be set for life
As someone from Tunisia to give people some perspective: Tunisia was expected to default on its debt at some point this year/summer without IMF support. The expectation was that Tunisia will be in a serious currency crisis by now.
Somehow, that didn’t happen. No one expected this. Neither the EU, the USA, the IMF, the Tunisian government itself or me. Tunisia continued to pay its debt, the currency is fine, inflation is under control. There were some shortages at some points (and until now) but manageable overall.
It’s still not clear how much the economy can bounce like that but am guessing the people in government have realized they don’t need the EU money after all (especially that it’ll come at a local political cost).
The Nigerian prince would like to have a word with you .
I remember people saying that Tunisia is going to be the first Arab democracy
Spend it on ships to patrol the Mediterranean 😉
I cant believe I am correcting Euronews but:
> “The Commission has been informed that Tunisia returned the payment of 60 million euros,” said Ana Pisonero, the Commission’s spokesperson for enlargement and neighbourhood, without specifying a reason for the repayment.
Actually the reason was mentioned on the facebook page of the Tunisian presidency. This is the link of the post which refuses the aid (remove the space *facebook links are banned here apparently*):
> https://m.face book.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02oGdsiwswYzGsdpb671pZNJQoVTJc1pBxRL3wXKzzmSfELRGhC2XpvsGTarLUbi2Pl&id=100064458289062&mibextid=Nif5oz
My translation (5th paragraph)
> فإن تونس ترفض ما تمّ الإعلان عنه في الأيام القليلة الماضية من قبل الإتحاد الأوروبي، لا لزُهد المبلغ فخزائن الدنيا كلها لا تساوي عند شعبنا ذرة واحدة من سيادتنا، بل لأن هذا المقترح يتعارض مع مذكرة التفاهم التي تم توقيعها في تونس ومع الروح التي سادت أثناء مؤتمر روما في جويلية الفارط الذي كان بمبادرة تونسية إيطالية.
> Tunisia refuses what was declared in the recent days by th EU, not because of the small size of the amount -The money of the world isnt equal to an atom of our sovereignity, **but because this proposition contradicts with the memorandum of understanding signed in Tunisia and contradicts with the spirit of Rome’s conference last July which was a Tunisian Italian intiative.**
And yes our president has surpassed populism.. he is a next-level demagogue.
16 comments
Good for them. Europe should trade, not aid.
Tunesia should declare what it is that they want from us and we shall figure out what we want from them.
well I chuckled, it’s ballsy to say the least. It’s not like I have any say in this but oddly enough after reading this, I feel even more like they should have it. It’s a refreshing stance.
Even for Tunisia €60 million is peanuts. For perspective Tunisia’s state budget is around €18 billions.
>In a bid to control the spiralling narrative, the Commission said on the record that €60 million had been effectively paid in budgetary support “following a request from the Tunisian government on the 31st of August.”
>
>Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for enlargement and neighbourhood, took it a step further and publicly invited Tunisia to “wire back” the money if it did not want it. The Commissioner shared his message on X, formerly Twitter, with a screenshot of the Tunisian document asking for the €60 million to be released.
>
>”Implementation of the (memorandum) should continue once Tunisia returns to the spirit of our strategic & comprehensive partnership based on mutual respect,” Várhelyi said.
>
>Now, that spirit seems to be in tatters as Saied follows through on this threat.
I mean, they literally requested the money back?
I shall volunteer myself as a recipient for the money then if neither the EU, nor Tunesia are fond of it. Charity and aid by the EU are honorable acts I wish to support wholeheartedly!
EU in shambles
No more visas + tariffs should be the right answer
Stunning? Who is stunned by a dictator lying to the EU in 2023? Only the fascist like Meloni maybe.
Send just the 1/60th of that hot potato money my way, and I’ll be set for life
As someone from Tunisia to give people some perspective: Tunisia was expected to default on its debt at some point this year/summer without IMF support. The expectation was that Tunisia will be in a serious currency crisis by now.
Somehow, that didn’t happen. No one expected this. Neither the EU, the USA, the IMF, the Tunisian government itself or me. Tunisia continued to pay its debt, the currency is fine, inflation is under control. There were some shortages at some points (and until now) but manageable overall.
It’s still not clear how much the economy can bounce like that but am guessing the people in government have realized they don’t need the EU money after all (especially that it’ll come at a local political cost).
The Nigerian prince would like to have a word with you .
I remember people saying that Tunisia is going to be the first Arab democracy
Spend it on ships to patrol the Mediterranean 😉
I cant believe I am correcting Euronews but:
> “The Commission has been informed that Tunisia returned the payment of 60 million euros,” said Ana Pisonero, the Commission’s spokesperson for enlargement and neighbourhood, without specifying a reason for the repayment.
Actually the reason was mentioned on the facebook page of the Tunisian presidency. This is the link of the post which refuses the aid (remove the space *facebook links are banned here apparently*):
> https://m.face book.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02oGdsiwswYzGsdpb671pZNJQoVTJc1pBxRL3wXKzzmSfELRGhC2XpvsGTarLUbi2Pl&id=100064458289062&mibextid=Nif5oz
My translation (5th paragraph)
> فإن تونس ترفض ما تمّ الإعلان عنه في الأيام القليلة الماضية من قبل الإتحاد الأوروبي، لا لزُهد المبلغ فخزائن الدنيا كلها لا تساوي عند شعبنا ذرة واحدة من سيادتنا، بل لأن هذا المقترح يتعارض مع مذكرة التفاهم التي تم توقيعها في تونس ومع الروح التي سادت أثناء مؤتمر روما في جويلية الفارط الذي كان بمبادرة تونسية إيطالية.
> Tunisia refuses what was declared in the recent days by th EU, not because of the small size of the amount -The money of the world isnt equal to an atom of our sovereignity, **but because this proposition contradicts with the memorandum of understanding signed in Tunisia and contradicts with the spirit of Rome’s conference last July which was a Tunisian Italian intiative.**
And yes our president has surpassed populism.. he is a next-level demagogue.
The next Euromillions prize
🤡 🤡 🤡 🤡 🤡