Tunisia’s president urges aid to stem migration as European leaders visit

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA and ANGELA CHARLTON
Associated Press

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s president is hosting the leaders of Italy, the Netherlands and the European Union for talks aimed at smoothing the way for an international bailout. The European leaders want to restore stability to a country that has become a major source of migration to Europe. Tunisia’s economy is teetering toward collapse, but President Kais Saied has balked at the International Monetary Fund’s conditions for a $1.9 billion bailout. The president warns such moves would unleash social unrest, and bristles at what he calls Western diktats. On the eve of Sunday’s talks, Saied visited to a migrant camp in a coastal city that is a departure point for boats crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.