At first, the European Union (EU) and many of its member states evinced great concern about Tunisia’s direction under Saïed. In today’s conditions, the government would struggle to find alternative external financing to cover the costs, as Tunisia’s economic indicators continue to deteriorate. There would be risks and downsides to accepting an IMF loan as well. Under the latter arrangement, and following end-of-September discussions among EU member states, Tunisia is to handle asylum applications of Europe-bound refugees on its own soil, rather than allowing these people to cross the Mediterranean and apply. What the EU Can Do The EU and member states face highly imperfect choices when it comes to Tunisia.
