This past December, failed Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri rammed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 and injuring 56 others. The German government couldn't deport him, due to the Tunisian government disputing his nationality. Since then, Berlin has urged the Tunisian authorities for greater cooperation in deporting illegal Tunisian migrants on German soil. How would Chancellor Merkel broach the subject with PM Chahed? "Instead of confronting her guest with the complaints of German federal and local authorities in regards to the lack of cooperation with Tunisia or threatening him with cuts of development aid, as German government representatives have done in the weeks and months before, Chancellor Angela Merkel took a more reconciliatory tone," noted Ulrike Scheffer of the Berlin-based  daily newspaper "Tagesspiegel" yesterday about the meeting. Merkel proposed new initiatives during the meeting to encourage Tunisian migrants in Germany to return back to their home country by offering financial aid for education or to return home. The two countries also discussed sharing more security information and strengthen ties in regards to speeding up to the repatriation process. Jacques Schuster of the German daily "Die Welt" also mentioned that it was in Germany interest to "broker deals with North African countries from Tunisia to Egypt,  in order to prevent people coming to Europe with smugglers." He mentioned that  yesterday’s meeting between Merkel and Chahed meant that Tunisia would be the first North African country to work closer with Germany on the human smuggling issue across the Mediterranean sea. Miguel Sanches of the "Hamburger Abendblatt" also agreed that Merkel’s next step in controlling migration after the deal with Turkey would be another one with the North African Maghreb states. Germany will invest more in the Tunisian economy for greater support from Tunisia on the migration issue. He also mentioned that while Tunisia might not be expected to have refugee camps itself, the country does have specific obligations in such a deal. "Tunisia has to take its failed asylum seekers. That is expected," he wrote. Tunisian media Tunisia’s ailing economy is one reason why migrants make the journey illegally over the Mediterranean sea. According to Nadia Dejoui of Tunisian newspaper "L'economiste maghrébin," Prime Minister Chahed came to Berlin to "restore Tunisia’s image in Germany" and to "consolidate Tunisian-German cooperation" in areas such as the economy and security. The two leaders later visited the site of where failed asylum Anis Amri carried out the attack in Berlin. In regards to the unchecked migration between Tunisia and Germany, Taoufik Habaieb of Tunisian Francophone news website "Leaders" wrote that this was a very sensitive issue for the public of both of these countries and that this visit yesterday was just the beginning of their negotiations on the migrant crisis. "It’s up to the respective interior ministers of these two countries to have a more in-depth meeting beyond this visit," he concluded. Author: Wesley Dockery