Brussels, 29/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - In an answer to a parliamentary question published on Thursday 29 October, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has reaffirmed the EU's support to Tunisia.
The question was put by Charles Tannock MEP (ECR, UK), who stated that “Tunisia is still struggling to deal with a legacy of political and economic power having been concentrated in the hands of an elite few”. Tannock believed “serious legal reform still needs to be undertaken to remove legal codes from the era of the dictatorship” and said that “these challenges are still present in Tunisia”. He therefore asked what the EU planned to do to help the Tunisians.
Reiterating the conclusions from the Council on 20 January 2015, Mogherini replied that “the EU remains steadfastly committed to cooperating with the president of Tunisia, the government, and the whole of Tunisian society, in order to deepen the privileged partnership between the EU and Tunisia”. She said that “with this in mind, the EU will continue to back the efforts of the new authorities with political and financial support commensurate with both the progress already achieved and the challenges faced”.
Mogherini also answered that the EU “is fully committed to strengthening its cooperation with Tunisia in the field of security, including integrated border management”. Given “the scale of the risks linked to terrorism, which call for a coordinated international response”, Mogherini said, “the EU proposed to intensify its cooperation with the Tunisian authorities, as well as with other key partners in the region, through a specific political dialogue and the identification of concrete projects to combat terrorism and its root causes (…) while respecting the rule of law and fundamental freedoms”. (Original version in French by Fathi B'Chir)