Tunisia summons EU ambassador to protest union meeting

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By Tarek Amara

TUNIS (Reuters) -Tunisian President Kais Saied summoned the EU ambassador to protest what he called a diplomatic breach after the EU official met the head of a powerful union this week, amid rising tensions with the country’s largest civil-society group.

The incident marks the latest sign of friction between Tunisia’s leadership and international partners over the country’s handling of civil society or opposition groups.

EU ambassador Giuseppe Perrone met Monday with UGTT leader Noureddine Taboubi, praising the union’s Nobel Peace Prize–winning role in 2015 and stressing continued cooperation with Tunisia’s civil society.

“Saied conveyed a strongly worded protest over the failure to adhere to diplomatic protocols and acting outside the official channels,” the presidency said in a statement on Wednesday.

Saied’s government has launched a crackdown on civil society, leading to the suspension of many groups including Democratic Women, Nawaat Journalists, and the Economic and Social Forum.

Amnesty International has said the crackdown on rights groups has reached critical levels with arbitrary arrests, detentions, asset freezes, banking restrictions and suspensions targeting 14 NGOs.

While the UGTT, with its one million members, has not yet faced any official decisions, it has voiced complaints about restrictions on trade union rights and the unilateral suspension of agreements with the authorities.

This month, the union also threatened to launch a nationwide strike “in defence of trade union rights,” amid a crippling economic and political crisis that has sparked protests from opposition groups, unions, journalists, banks, and doctors.

The EU, Tunisia’s largest trading partner and a key ally for decades, has seen relations sour since Saied seized almost all power in 2021 and began ruling by decrees, a move the opposition calls a coup.

(Reporting by Tarek Amara; Editing by Stephen Coates)