Italy pledges aid to Tunisia in state of emergency

Italy’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, has said that his country is going to provide more support to Tunisia, which announced a state of emergency on Saturday. The Italian minister used his official Twitter account to make his comments.

“Italy stands today with Tunisia more than ever,” he wrote. “It was forced to declare a state of emergency in order to address the threat of terrorism and will receive more economic cooperation from Italy and greater assistance on the security level.”

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Italian Senateˈs Foreign Policy Commission, Pier Ferdinando Casini, criticised the European position on the developments in Tunisia. He called on the EU to speed up economic support for the North African country.

“The tragic call issued by Tunisian President Beji Kaid Essebsi cannot fall on deaf ears,” insisted Casini. “Europe has to act quickly in order to provide financial support to Tunisia because that is the way to stop jihadists.”

The state of emergency announced by Essebsi is set to last for 30 days. It follows the terrorist attack at a hotel in the coastal province of Sousse ten days ago in which 38 foreign tourists were killed.