Brussels, 25/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 March, Italy announced the cancellation of part of Tunisia's debt to Italy (€25 million). The announcement was made during the visit of Italy's foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, to Tunis in order to speak about the fight against terrorism and the trafficking of migrants. “On the economic level, in addition to the debt, we will work with France to involve the European Union by inserting the possibility into the Juncker plan of taking action in Tunisia”, Gentiloni told Tunisian media. European support will be sought for the Elmed project (a connection between Sicily and Tunisia under the sea), he said.
France reportedly favours transforming the debt. The French ambassador in Tunis, François Gouyette, said in a radio interview on Radioexpress that “negotiations between the two countries are still ongoing in order to transform the Tunisian debt into an investment project”. An announcement will apparently be made at the start of April during the official visit to Paris of the Tunisian president (our translation throughout). (Fathi B'Chir)