Tunisian Parliament Speaker Rached Ghannouchi met Wednesday with Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Tunisia Fabio Massimo Castaldo, who is also vice-president of the European Parliament.
“The current Libyan crisis could affect Tunisia’s security and economy,” said Castaldo in press statements, highlighting EU’s significant role in resolving the crisis in neighboring Libya.
These concerns were also expressed by several Tunisian politicians.
Castaldo added that he has been working hard to “resolve this crisis at all levels, bridge the viewpoints between rival parties, ensure the implementation of the ceasefire by head of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj and Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar and resolve the conflict peacefully by organizing the elections.”
UN Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame had earlier announced that the elections would be held in Libya late 2019. However, political differences and lack of commitment to the provisions of the Skhirat agreement in Morocco made this step impossible to take place on time.
Ghannouchi, head of Tunisia’s Ennahda party, expressed hope for united efforts to resolve the crisis in Libya peacefully, under the auspices of the United Nations, in order to achieve regional stability.
He called for supporting diplomatic and parliamentary cooperation between both parties to further activate Tunisia’s role in the world.
Castaldo handed over to Ghannouchi a copy of the EU mission’s final report on the presidential and parliamentary elections held in Tunisia in 2019, pointing to the union’s economic and social support for the country to bolster its democratic path.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the country’s Interior Ministry visited on Wednesday Tataouine Governorate to oversee preparations to receive expatriates from Libya in case the security situation worsened there.
The visit came days after the Tunisian authorities prepared an emergency plan to receive the displaced and refugees, in light of the fragile truce between Libyan parties.
It has recently hinted taking “appropriate exceptional measures” on the borders with Libya to maintain national security.
