[AFRICANEWS] Tunisia's President, Kais Saied, said on Monday evening that his country was refusing to accept the funds allocated by the European Union
 ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
to Tunisia, which he described as "charity", and whose "derisory" amount would run counter to the agreement concluded in July between the two parties.
On September 22, the European Commission announced that it would begin "rapidly" allocating the funds provided for under the agreement with Tunisia, in order to reduce the number of migrants colonists arriving from that country.
The Commission specified that some 42 million euros of the 105 million euros in aid provided for under this agreement to combat irregular immigration would be "rapidly allocated". A further 24.7 million euros had already been earmarked for ongoing programs.
"Tunisia, which accepts cooperation, does not accept anything resembling charity or favor, because our country and our people do not want sympathy and do not accept it when it is without respect," he said, according to a blurb from the presidency.
"Consequently, Tunisia refuses what has been announced in recent days by the EU", said Mr. Saied, who was receiving his Foreign Minister, Nabil Ammar.
He explained that this refusal was "not because of the derisory amount (...) but because this proposal goes against" the agreement signed in Tunis and "the spirit that prevailed at the Rome conference" in July.
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