Can the EU’s top ‘useful idiot’ save Tunisia?

The European Union is considering capitalising on Tunisia’s troubles with a rescue plan, led by its buffoonish chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, yet its unlikely that Tunisia’s president will take the project in Brussels seriously.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, on March 20th said he was considering a visit to Tunisia, as he voiced concerns about its current situation and described President Kais Saied’s remarks about sub-Saharan migrants in the country as “unacceptable”, agencies reported.

Yet a comical track record of blunders by the EU on the world stage, perhaps underlined recently by Borrell himself asking the Algerians to help with a peace deal in the Ukraine presents the idea with almost no credibility, especially given Borrell’s recent comments about neighbouring countries of the EU being a “jungle”. 

Add to that the rank hypocrisy of the EU both as a so-called global player and the defender of human rights and the idea of it rescuing Tunisia while delivering the moral tutelage becomes almost comical.

The European Parliament recently adopted by an overwhelming majority a resolution condemning what it called “the recent attacks against freedom of expression and association and trade unions in Tunisia” but failed to recognise the diabolical human rights record of many EU member states who are becoming totalitarian states, not to mention the EU itself which has recently hushed up a number of massive corruption cases against its top officials.

The parliament also called on the European Commission, through its resolution, to suspend EU funded-support programmes to Tunisia’s ministries of justice and interior affairs.

“The President of Tunisia is facing a situation where political instability comes together with a dire economic situation,” Mr Borrell said.

The EU official highlighted that the current challenges involved a continuing delay regarding an International Monetary Fund deal, making Tunisia a priority subject to discuss at the EU meeting.

Mr Borrell said he could soon visit Tunisia, pending the results of the discussion.

The meeting on the situation in Tunisia comes as more than 20 political figures have been arrested in the North African country in recent weeks, as well as a crackdown on sub-Saharan migrants in the country after a statement made by Mr Saied on February 21, which was widely condemned, including by the African Union, as “racially motivated hate speech”.

The leader rejected what he called “sub-Saharan African occupation” and the “attempts to alter the demographic composition of Tunisia”, sparking a widespread backlash both domestically and overseas.

Yet the EU’s position is drenched in hypocrisy and duplicity. While it recently condemned Morocco for its arrests of journalists, the EU also organised workshops for Rabat and its secret services in how to create fake news on Facebook, as just one example. Also, the new campaign now in the European parliament to attack Morocco has since been proved to be a ruse by both the EU and France together who want to reduce Morocco’s trade and soft power in Africa which it has taken from France.