Tunisian President delays visit of European delegation to his country

By Alaa Hammoudi

TUNIS, Tunisia (AA) - Tunisian President Kais Saied late on Monday ordered the delay of a European delegation visit to his country to an undefined later date.

A statement by the Tunisian Presidency quoted Saied as asking the Foreign Ministry to inform the European Commission delegation on delaying their visit to Tunisia.

The statement, however, didn't specify any further details or the reasons behind the decision.

The European Commission on Friday announced a package aid of 127 million euros ($134 million) to support Tunisia's economy and to halt irregular migration.

The European Commission added that a delegation will visit Tunisia next week but didn't give an exact date for the visit.

On September 19, the Tunisian President said he would not accept visits by foreign delegations that interfere in the country's internal affairs.

He claimed that these delegations want to play the role of custodianship over Tunisia, but added that the delegations can come to Tunisia to follow up the elections process but not as observers "because Tunisians will only be the observers on the elections."

Tunisia has been in the throes of a deep political crisis that had aggravated the country's economic conditions since 2021 when Saied ousted the government and dissolved parliament.

Following the move, Saied managed to pass a new constitution in July 2022 through a referendum and held parliamentary elections in December of the same year amid a boycott by most of Saied's opponents.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar