Tunisia denied entry to five members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs who were due to visit the country on an official mission, Report informs referring to Politico.
“This delegation will not be allowed to enter national territory,” the Tunisian government wrote in a letter to the delegation, seen by Playbook.
The government of President Kais Saied did not explain its decision, but two Parliament officials say that Tunis was allegedly offended by a press conference held by MEPs in July criticizing the country’s democratic backsliding, Gregorio Sorgi writes in to report.
The refusal of entry could become an embarrassment for Ursula von der Leyen, who praised the controversial deal struck with Tunisia to stem migration flows as a template for similar agreements with other countries in her SOTEU speech.
