TUNIS: Tunisia’s President Kais Saied summoned the European Union’s ambassador 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.
Saied went on to slam the envoy over “the use of practices outside of official frameworks recognized by diplomatic customs.”
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.
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.
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.
