Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s Prime Minister was reported to touch down in Tunisia at about 10am on Tuesday (June 6). The visit was organized quickly, in the last 48 hours, according to Italian newspapers, including Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s financial broadsheet.

Meloni’s brief visit follows months of diplomatic overtures between the two countries, aimed at bolstering Tunisia’s economy and preventing a financial crisis that could potentially trigger a new round of migrant departures towards Europe.

"At the heart of our concerns is maintaining the stability of this country [Tunisia]," explained Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in a brief interview broadcast on Italy’s Sky News 24.

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Meloni and her team were expected to meet with Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden Ramadan and President Kais Saied during the visit. Italy has been concerned for some time over Tunisia’s finances and economy. Without securing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, the North African country risks defaulting financially and spinning out of control economically and politically.

“If the Tunisian government goes down, it would be very worrying. We are trying to avoid this scenario,” Tajani explained on Sky News 24.

Working to release IMF funds

Il Sole 24 Ore reported that Meloni’s visit was to try and make sure that European funds, to the tune of about €500 million could once again flow to Tunisia, as well as trying to release almost $2 billion (around €1.8 billion) in loans from the IMF. In return, Meloni was hoping that President Saied would agree to be more flexible about the reforms demanded by the IMF as conditions for the release of funds.

Conditions, that up until now Saied has rejected as "unacceptable."

"I have told President Saied that we fully respect Tunisia’s sovereignty, but as Tunisia's friend, Italy is going to great lengths to make sure that we arrive at a positive conclusion with the IMF, which is absolutely fundamental to getting Tunisia back on its feet again," said Meloni during her visit, reported Il Sole 24 Ore.

In March, the Italian government warned that if Tunisia were to allowed to default, as many as 900,000 migrants could potentially leave the shores of North African countries and make their way to Europe. This figure, explained by the UN Migration Agency IOM’s Flavio Di Giacomo to InfoMigrants, was not realistic.

Arrivals to Italy in May slightly down compared to previous years

When he spoke to InfoMigrants at the beginning of May, Di Giacomo warned against sounding the kind of alarms that the Italian government did in March. The numbers, he explained, seemed to be based on the number of foreign nationals present in North African countries, rather than on the numbers who had expressed their interest in leaving for Europe. Earlier this year though, the numbers leaving Tunisia for Europe surpassed even those leaving Libya.

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Although 51,636 migrants have now arrived in Italy since the beginning of 2023 (figures last updated by the Italian government on June 5), the number of those who arrived in May were slightly under the figures for the same month the previous year; the first time this year that 2023 monthly totals were fewer than the equivalent month in both 2022 and 2021.

The EU’s Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, responsible for migration, called Meloni’s visit to Tunisia "crucial." On Tuesday (June 5), Johansson presented the EU's "Action Plan to Manage Migration" on both the Western Mediterranean and Atlantic routes.

The plan includes "targeted operational measures to ensure safer, legal and orderly migration to the EU," stated Johansson on her Twitter feed. A similar action plan for the central Mediterranean route was announced in November 2022.

EU-Tunisia deals

At a more recent press conference, Johansson said, "We need to increase our cooperation with Tunisia. It is a key partner, because the number of departures from there towards Italy are becoming unsustainable. Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Tunisia is crucial because Italy can play a constructive role in our relations with Tunisia. On this fact, the Commission and Rome are allies and we both want to increase the cooperation with this country," reported Sky News 24.

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Johansson added that after her own visit to Tunisia, there had been a "significant drop in the numbers of departures from Tunisia, but we are unsure how long that will last."

At a press conference concluding her visit, Meloni said she would be willing to return to Tunisia with EU representatives. "Italy has made itself into a kind of messenger when it comes to EU-Tunisian relations, and we have been cheerleading for an increase in our support to Tunisia. That support will help fight against human trafficking and illegal immigration," said the Italian premier.

Meloni added that she was "very grateful to the European Commission, for having accelerated the package of support it was willing to offer to Tunisia" which Meloni presented to President Saied during the course of the visit. "I state here now my willingness to return to Tunisia soon, perhaps even alongside the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," added Meloni.

Further support needed

During the visit, the Italian delegation also took some time to talk about the energy deals between Italy and Tunisia. In addition to the direct deals in energy production between Tunisia and Italy, the Algerian gas pipeline passes through part of Tunisian territory before reaching Italy. These energy sources are fundamental for Italy and Europe, underlined the Italian delegation according to Il Sole 24 Ore.

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Meloni is hopeful that an upcoming European conference on migration at the end of June will address migration across the Mediterranean in more detail. The Italian leader has been holding meetings with other European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in recent weeks, as well as speaking to EU Commission President von der Leyen.

Italy’s visit was received as "intelligent and constructive" reported Il Sole 24 Ore, quoting Tunisia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Ammar. Now, reports the financial broadsheet, Italy is banking on receiving Germany’s support in terms of increasing EU support for Tunisia when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to visit Rome next week.

Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and League leader Matteo Salvini told the Italian Press Agency AGI that he was confident that Meloni's approach would lead to success and that she would return from Tunisia with "concrete results."