Shared history, shared destiny: France-Tunisia friendship

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expressed on Thursday, during a lunch meeting with his Tunisian counterpart Ahmed Achani, his desire for the "unique" relationship between France and Tunisia to "overcome all challenges."

The Tunisian Prime Minister, for his part, hailed a "new momentum," "a surge" in bilateral relations. This meeting is "a unique opportunity (...) to resolve all the difficulties that may have arisen in the past," emphasized Mr. Achani.

The two leaders held one-on-one discussions before engaging in broader talks on the economy, education, culture, and regional crises, according to the French Prime Minister's office.

"We are here to show how our unique relationship transcends all challenges. It even transcends individuals. It transcends short-term timeframes. It is long-lasting," stated Gabriel Attal to the press, eager to "deepen (the) political dialogue in a spirit of equal partnership."

The French Prime Minister, who has Tunisian roots through his father, indicated that he would "mobilize the French export guarantee mechanism, Export France, to facilitate the export of French cereals to Tunisia."

On the European front, he expressed the wish that the migration partnership signed in July between the European Union and Tunisia be implemented on an "equal footing." Tunisia, along with Libya, serves as the main departure point for thousands of migrants crossing the central Mediterranean to Europe, arriving in Italy.

However, this "memorandum of understanding" between the EU and Tunisia has been criticized by the left and the Greens, who denounce the authoritarianism of Tunisian President Kais Saied and the abuses suffered by sub-Saharan migrants in the country. On the right and far-right, some MEPs consider its implementation insufficient.

"We agreed together that we form a kind of duo capable of driving relations between our two countries," emphasized the Tunisian Prime Minister.

"There was a sort of slight cooling off, and 'you catch it in the winter,' but I have the feeling that it's spring," noted Ahmed Achani, while denouncing "certain malicious parties" that, in his view, "want to derail the Franco-Tunisian machine that has started up again."

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, who participated in this meeting, also traveled to Rabat on Monday to revive bilateral relations with Morocco after a period of tension.