Tunisian President Kais Saied landed at the Rome-Ciampino airport on a two-day official visit to Italy at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella.
The visit came as part of the two leaders’ efforts to strengthen and boost the partnership and business climate between the two countries.
The irregular migration issue is also expected to be discussed during the visit.
Located at the South shore of the Mediterranean Sea, Tunisia represents a central player for the EU for managing human mobility in the macro-region.
Thus, European political pressures have been imposed on Tunisia to control the mounting waves of migrants.
As of July 2020, 5,237 out of the 11,191 migrants who landed in Italy came from Tunisia, according to official data. They included nearly 4,000 Tunisian citizens.
However, the socioeconomic instability and rising unemployment rate in the North African country since the 2011 Revolution explain these increasing numbers of migrants.
For these reasons, Tunisian officials emphasise the urgent need to support the country’s challenging economic conditions and invest in many sectors to create jobs for young people to curb illegal migration.
