(Reuters) Europe risks seeing a huge wave of migrants arriving on its shores from North Africa if financial stability in Tunisia is not safeguarded, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Friday.
Tunisia has been gripped by political upheavals since July 2021, when President Kais Saied seized most powers, shutting down parliament and moving to rule by decree.
Bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been stalled for months, with the United States, among others, demanding far-reaching reforms from Saied to free up the cash.
“Maybe not everyone is aware of the need to preserve the financial stability in a country which has severe financial problems,” Meloni told reporters following a summit of European Union leaders in Brussels.
