Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Boudin discussed in Algiers, the Libyan crisis and the irregular migration of an increasing number of young people from the two countries to Europe across the Mediterranean. She also touched on the situation at the common borders and the implementation of agreements signed during President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s visit to Tunisia.
The Algerian Prime Ministry published photos of Prime Minister Ayman bin Abdel Rahman, receiving his Tunisian counterpart at the capital’s international airport, accompanied by Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra and Minister of Environment and Renewable Energies Samia Moualfi, without providing any details about the one-day visit that was not previously announced.
Sources following up on the development of relations between the two Maghreb neighbors told Asharq Al-Awsat that Boudin came to Algeria to discuss the implementation of 27 agreements signed at the end of 2021 between Tebboune and President Kais Saied in Tunis.
The sources pointed to “security and humanitarian files that concern the two countries,” including cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking.
The migration of hundreds of Tunisian and Algerian youths, via traditional boats in the Mediterranean, to the coasts of Italy and Spain, and the cooperation of the two countries to curb this phenomenon, constituted one of the files of Boudin’s visit, according to the same sources.
The agreements signed during Tebboune’s visit to Tunis covered various sectors, including the judiciary, interior and energy files, medium and small industries, emerging enterprises and the pharmaceutical industry, and other files pertaining to the environment, religious affairs, education, vocational training, fishing, media and culture.
In a joint statement at the time, the two presidents stressed “constant coordination on Libya and the need to curb the presence of mercenaries to restore [the country’s] stability.”
