Tunisia’s President Kais Saied summoned the European Union’s ambassador on Wednesday to protest the “failure to respect diplomatic rules”, according to a brief statement from the presidency that provided no details on the alleged breach in protocol.<\/p>\n
Saied went on to slam the envoy over “the use of practices outside of official frameworks recognised by diplomatic customs”.<\/p>\n
The statement comes after EU ambassador to Tunisia Giuseppe Perrone met with Noureddine Taboubi, the leader of the north African country’s main trade union.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Perrone hailed the role of the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), according to the EU’s delegation in Tunis, while Taboubi called for reinforced cooperation between Tunisia and the EU.<\/p>\n
The UGTT was part of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize-winning “national dialogue quartet”, and remains an influential counterweight to Saied, who has jailed many of his critics since a sweeping 2021 power grab.<\/p>\n
Last week, Taboubi oversaw a union meeting and expressed his support for multiple private sector strikes underway in the inflation-hit country.<\/p>\n
He hailed a general strike in the city of Sfax and threatened to call for a national stoppage.<\/p>\n
“The organisation is heading towards a general strike to defend the material and social gains of workers in the face of daily difficulties,” he said at the time.<\/p>\n
An EU spokesman told AFP that “it is normal and part of diplomats’ functions, wherever they are in the world, to engage with a wide range of interlocutors in their host country”.<\/p>\n
That “includes contacts with civil society organisations” the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to the 2015 Nobel prize awarded to the quartet.<\/p>\n
Tunisian and international rights groups have decried the erosion of rights and freedoms since Saied’s power grab.<\/p>\n
Residents have also complained of their reduced purchasing power because of inflation, with food products particularly affected.<\/p>\n
Founded in 1946, the UGTT played a leading role in the struggle against French colonial rule, and later resisted autocratic presidents Habib Bourguiba and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.<\/p>\n
It was also central to the 2011 revolution that toppled Ben Ali and ignited protests across the Arab world.<\/p>\n
fka\/ser\/ds\/jsa<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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