Saied summons the EU ambassador due to diplomatic overreach.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Special

The Tunisian President Kais Saied summoned the European Union Ambassador to Tunisia to convey a strongly worded protest because of what he said was a "failure to comply with diplomatic protocols," after the European diplomat met with the leader of the labor union this week, amid an escalating dispute with the country's largest civil society organization. The move is the latest indication of tension between the Tunisian leadership and international partners over criticism or positions regarding civil society or the Tunisian opposition. The presidency said in a statement on Wednesday that "Saied conveyed a strongly worded protest because of the failure to comply with diplomatic protocols and dealing outside the recognized official frameworks," according to Reuters. The measure comes at a time when the authorities are waging a wide-ranging campaign against civil society organizations under the pretext of receiving foreign funding, which has resulted in the suspension of the work of many organizations, including Democratic Women, Journalists of Nawaat, and the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights. Amnesty International said that the campaign against civil society organizations has reached critical levels due to arbitrary arrests and detention measures, asset freezes, banking restrictions, and the suspension of the work of 14 non-governmental organizations. Although the labor union, which has about one million members, has not yet faced any official decisions, it complains of restrictions on trade union rights, the unilateral suspension of a number of agreements with the authorities, and the refusal to negotiate in several outstanding files. The union threatened earlier in November to organize a national strike "in defense of trade union rights," amid a suffocating economic and political crisis in the country that has led to protests by the opposition, unions, journalists, banks, and doctors. EU Ambassador Giuseppe Perrone met on Monday with the Secretary-General of the labor union, Noureddine Taboubi, praising the union's prominent role in the dialogue that earned it the Nobel Peace Prize in 2015, and stressed the continued cooperation with civil society in Tunisia. Relations with the European Union, Tunisia's largest trading partner and a major ally for decades, have witnessed a marked stagnation since Saied seized most powers in 2021 and began ruling by decree, a move the opposition describes as a coup.