ALBAWABA - Officials said on Thursday that Tunisia has barred entry to a delegation from the European Parliament after some EU lawmakers criticized a deal Brussels struck with Tunis to stem migration.
"It is both astonishing and exceptional. Never in at least 20 years has a regime allowed itself to refuse an official delegation from the foreign affairs committee and to say that even if we made the trip we would be turned back at the border" MEP Mounir Satouri, a member of the delegation, told AFP.
The incident comes after the European Union and Tunisia signed a memorandum of cooperation in July to reduce irregular migration numbers across the Mediterranean Sea.
Under the agreement, which was firmly pushed by Italy, Brussels has guaranteed the Tunisian government possibly hundreds of millions of euros in financial assistance.
