Exclusive: Kais Saied Unveils from Paris Tunisia’s Position on Libya

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Tunisian President Kais Saied for bilateral talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP-Michel Euler)
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Tunisian President Kais Saied for bilateral talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP-Michel Euler)
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Exclusive: Kais Saied Unveils from Paris Tunisia’s Position on Libya

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Tunisian President Kais Saied for bilateral talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP-Michel Euler)
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Tunisian President Kais Saied for bilateral talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Monday, June 22, 2020. (AP-Michel Euler)

Eight months after Kais Saied entered the Carthage presidential palace, the Tunisian president landed in Paris at the head of an official delegation, respecting a tradition followed by his predecessors, who made France their first international destination, after a symbolic visit to neighboring Algeria.

Reactions diverged over the results of the first summit between Saied and French President Emmanuel Macron, and their statements on Libya and the colonial era.

Minister of Finance Nizar Yaish and Foreign Minister Noureddine al-Rai, who accompanied Saied on his visit, emphasized the economic results of the talks, including a new French loan to Tunisia worth 350 million euros (400 million dollars).

Tunisian expert in international politics Faraj Maatouq valued a bilateral agreement aimed at “boosting the economic, financial and technological partnership between the two countries, which includes the establishment of a rapid railway line to link the northernmost part of Tunisia with its south.”

However, some politicians and economic and financial experts in Tunisia, played down the outcome of the meetings between the two leaders.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Academic Jannat bin Abdullah, said: “French President Macron clearly emphasized in his joint press conference with Saied at the Elysee Palace that the new loan represents an installment of the five-year loan agreed by the authorities of the two countries in 2017. Its value is about 1.7 billion euros, or about 2 billion dollars.”

Reda El-Shiknadali, the former director general of the Center for Economic and Social Studies and Research (CERES), said that Paris did not pledge new financial aid to Tunisia, which is experiencing structural and circumstantial difficulties.

He criticized “the promotion of old agreements concluded in 2017 as if they were a new initiative.”

But what’s more important about the first Tunisian-French summit is rather its political and diplomatic aspect, according to the opponents of Ennahda Movement, including the head of the Reform Bloc in the Tunisian parliament, Hassouna Nasfi.

The latter praised Saied’s statements that rejected the Turkish intervention in Libya and considered that the legitimacy of the Tripoli government was “temporary and needed improvement by holding new elections.”

But the spokesman for Ennahda, criticized the remarks made by the Tunisian president in France, which he said “touched on intra-Tunisian differences outside the homeland.”

On the other hand, a “cold war” was launched through the official and public social media platforms between the supporters of rapprochement with France, who oppose the Turkish role, and Ankara’s agreement with Rome in Libya.

Saied’s statements in Paris sparked a wave of controversy. Surprisingly, symbols of the Arab-Islamic movements, who stood by the president during the past months, accused him of “betraying the patriots who fought the French occupation.”

In France, the Tunisian president described the 75 years of colonization as “protection” rather than “occupation.”

MP Abdellatif Al-Alawi denounced Saied’s refusal that France apologize for its crimes during the period of its direct occupation of the country.
On the other hand, a large segment of Annahda opponents supported the president’s declared opposition to what they described as “the new Ottoman Turkish occupation of Libya.”

Finally, many political circles close to the president warned against exploiting the outcome of Saied’s visit to France and his statements to attack “state symbols” and to get involved “directly or indirectly in the international game of axes in Libya.”

Some of the former senior military officials, including ex-Director General of Military Security Major General Mohamed al-Medad, called on all parties in Tunisia to take a neutral stance, warning of a scenario of military and security escalation in Libya that could last for years.

Similarly, senior politicians, including a number of former foreign ministers, stressed the need for the Tunisian diplomacy to adhere to its fundamentals and its “positive neutrality and avoid interference in the internal affairs of countries.”



Trump’s Foreign Policy: End Ukraine War, Buy Greenland, Target Mexican Cartels 

Pastries decorated with an eatable portrait of US President-elect Donald Trump are presented by Ursula Trump in a bakery in Freinsheim, Germany, January 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Pastries decorated with an eatable portrait of US President-elect Donald Trump are presented by Ursula Trump in a bakery in Freinsheim, Germany, January 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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Trump’s Foreign Policy: End Ukraine War, Buy Greenland, Target Mexican Cartels 

Pastries decorated with an eatable portrait of US President-elect Donald Trump are presented by Ursula Trump in a bakery in Freinsheim, Germany, January 20, 2025. (Reuters)
Pastries decorated with an eatable portrait of US President-elect Donald Trump are presented by Ursula Trump in a bakery in Freinsheim, Germany, January 20, 2025. (Reuters)

Republican President-elect Donald Trump says he plans to acquire Greenland, bring the war in Ukraine to a close and fundamentally alter the US relationship with NATO during his second four-year term. In recent weeks, he has also threatened to seize the Panama Canal and slap Canada and Mexico with 25% tariffs if they do not clamp down on the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States.

Here is a look at the foreign policy proposals Trump has pledged to advance once he takes office on Monday:

NATO, UKRAINE AND EUROPEAN ALLIES

Trump has said that under his presidency, the United States will fundamentally rethink "NATO's purpose and NATO's mission."

He has pledged to ask Europe to reimburse the United States for "almost $200 billion" in munitions sent to Ukraine, and he has not committed to sending further aid to the Eastern European nation. Trump cut defense funding to NATO during the latter part of his first term, and he has frequently complained that the United States was paying more than its fair share. In recent weeks, he has said NATO members should be spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense, a figure well above the current 2% target.

On the war in Ukraine, Trump said during the 2024 election campaign that he would resolve the conflict even before his inauguration. But since his election, he has not repeated that pledge and advisers now concede it will take months to reach any peace agreement.

Trump has indicated that Kyiv may have to cede some territory to reach a peace agreement, a position backed by his key advisers. While there is no fully fleshed-out Trump peace plan, most of his key aides favor taking NATO membership off the table for Ukraine as part of any peace agreement, at least for the foreseeable future. They also broadly support freezing the battle lines at their prevailing location.

While Trump signaled in early April that he would be open to sending additional aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, he remained mostly silent on the issue during contentious congressional negotiations over a $61 billion aid package later that month.

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION

In mid-December, Trump said he planned to acquire Greenland, an idea he briefly floated during his 2017-2021 term. His previous efforts were foiled when Denmark said its overseas territory was not for sale.

But Trump's designs on the world's largest island have not abated. During a January press conference, Trump refused to rule out invading Greenland, portraying the island as crucial for US national security interests. Trump has also threatened to seize the Panama Canal in recent weeks, blaming Panama for overcharging vessels that transit the key shipping route.

Trump has also mused about turning Canada into a US state, though advisers have privately portrayed his comments regarding the United States' northern neighbor as an example of trolling, rather than a true geopolitical ambition.

CHINA, TRADE AND TAIWAN

Trump frequently threatens to impose major new tariffs or trade restrictions on China, as well as on many close allies.

His proposed Trump Reciprocal Trade Act would give him broad discretion to ramp up retaliatory tariffs on countries when they are determined to have put up trade barriers of their own. He has floated the idea of a 10% universal tariff, which could disrupt international markets, and at least a 60% tariff on China.

Trump has called for an end to China's most favored nation status, a designation that generally lowers trade barriers between nations. He has vowed to enact "aggressive new restrictions on Chinese ownership of any vital infrastructure in the United States," and the official Republican Party platform calls for banning Chinese ownership of American real estate.

On Taiwan, Trump has declared that it should pay the United States for its defense as, he says, it does not give the US anything and took "about 100% of our chip business," referring to semiconductors. He has repeatedly said that China would never dare to invade Taiwan during his presidency.

MEXICO, CANADA AND NARCOTICS

Trump has said he would slap Mexico and Canada with broad 25% tariffs if they do not stem the flow of drugs and migrants into the United States. Mexican and Canadian leaders have sought to prove they are serious about taking on illegal immigration and the narcotics trade, though Trump's actual Day One plans for tariffs on the country's neighbors are unclear.

Trump has said he would designate drug cartels operating in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations and order the Pentagon "to make appropriate use of special forces" to attack cartel leadership and infrastructure, an action that would be unlikely to obtain the blessing of the Mexican government.

He has said he would deploy the US Navy to enforce a blockade against the cartels and would invoke the Alien Enemies Act to deport drug dealers and gang members in the United States.

Civil rights groups and Democratic Party senators have pushed for the repeal of that act, passed in 1798, which gives the president some authority to deport foreign nationals while the country is at war.

The Republican Party platform also calls for moving thousands of troops deployed overseas to the US-Mexico border to battle illegal immigration.

CONFLICT IN GAZA

Trump's Middle East envoy-designate, Steve Witkoff, worked closely alongside officials in the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden to hash out the peace deal announced earlier in January between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. Sources close to the talks said he applied significant pressure on both sides to strike an accord quickly, though the precise details of his involvement are still coming out in the press.

After first criticizing Israeli leadership in the days after its citizens were attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Trump later said the group must be "crushed." Trump had said there would be "hell to pay" if Israel and Hamas did not reach a ceasefire deal resulting in the return of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza before he takes office.

IRAN

Trump's advisers have indicated they will renew the so-called maximum pressure campaign of his first term against Iran.

The maximum pressure campaign sought to use vigorous sanctions to strangle Iran's economy and force the country to negotiate a deal that would hobble its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.

The Biden administration did not materially loosen the sanctions that Trump put in place, but there is debate about how vigorously the sanctions were enforced.

CLIMATE

Trump has repeatedly pledged to pull out of the Paris Agreement, an international accord meant to limit greenhouse gas emissions. He pulled out of it during his term in office, but the US rejoined the accord under Biden in 2021.

MISSILE DEFENSE

Trump has pledged to build a state-of-the-art missile defense "force field" around the US. He has not gone into detail, beyond saying that the Space Force, a military branch that his first administration created, would play a leading role in the process.

In the Republican Party platform, the force field is referred to as an "Iron Dome," reminiscent of Israel's missile defense system, which shares the same name.