EU Pledge Support for Job Creation to Curb Flow of Tunisian Migrants

A total of 16,347 migrants reached Italian shores over the past year, a 149 percent increase compared to the previous 12-month period, but still a number much lower than in several other recent years.

No specific amount or source of aid was announced as Di Maio and other European officials visited Tunisia's capital of Tunis on Monday.

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However, they sent a clear message of support for the country's young democracy as it copes with an economic decline worsened by the virus pandemic.

The EU provided hundreds of millions of euros to Tunisia earlier this year to help it fight the virus.

“Tunisia can count on the European Commission and on all its friends," the EU’s commissioner for neighboring countries, Oliver Varhelyi, said, according to the Tunisian president's office.

Oliver Varhelyi also promised to promote job creation in Tunisia.

Di Maio, Varhelyi, Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson met Monday with Tunisian President Kais Saied and other top Tunisian officials.

Saied pressed for more development aid, insisting that “security solutions alone are not likely to end irregular migration”.

Tunisian Secretary of State Selma Neifer pushed for more opportunities for Tunisians to work and cross borders legally in Europe.