I fully agree with what President von der Leyen just stated, whom I want to thank very much for her tireless work.
Just five days have passed since my visit to Tunisia and we have already achieved an important goal. This meeting with President Saied, together with Ursula and with Mark, whom I thank too, also came about because of the diplomatic work that the Italian Government has done. I am glad of it, it’s very important for all of us.
We are very satisfied with the joint declaration of the European Union with Tunisia that was adopted today. It is an important first step towards creating a true partnership with the European Union that can address the migration crisis but also development for both sides of the Mediterranean in an integrated way.
We have an important window of opportunity between now and the European Council at the end of the month. We must all continue to work hard to achieve a memorandum between Europe and Tunisia that can lay the foundations of a new page in the history between Europe and Tunisia.
Following this, we are ready to host an international conference on migration and development in Rome, that we talked about with President Saied, as a further step in this journey that we have undertaken together. Of course, we consider this work useful also to help Tunisia in its negotiations with the IMF, for the framework agreement that remains a priority for the stability and the growth of the country.

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Many thanks to President von der Leyen, thanks to my colleague Mark Rutte. I believe this image today gives a very good idea of how committed we are to providing a response to our Tunisian neighbours. Thank you.

[Courtesy translation]