Hommam Al Nassim 
Tunisian President Kais Saied directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon a number of foreign ambassadors accredited to Tunisia to protest their interference in the country’s internal affairs.
This came after some Western countries and the European Union expressed concerns about the recent campaign of arrests in Tunisia.
Saied met with Secretary of State to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and Tunisians Abroad Mounir Benrjiba and tasked him with inviting a number of foreign ambassadors accredited to Tunisia and representatives of some regions to inform them of Tunisia’s “strongly worded” protest against external interference in its internal affairs, according to a statement from the Tunisian presidency published on Thursday.
“What they are doing is blatant and unacceptable interference in Tunisia’s internal affairs,” Saied said, stressing that “Tunisia is an independent state adhering to its sovereignty that has never interfered in the affairs of other countries, and that the Tunisian people refuse to allow anyone to interfere in their affairs.”
This measure comes as a reaction of President Saied to statements by some Western countries and the European Union, which denounced the recent campaign of arrests targeting media workers and lawyers and expressed concern about freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary in Tunisia.
In this context, the United States denounced, on Tuesday, the wave of arrests witnessed by Tunisia, and considered that “the practices of the authorities contradict the freedoms guaranteed by the country’s constitution.”
For its part, the European Union requested clarification from the Tunisian authorities on the reasons for the recent wave of arrests, stressing that freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary form the “basis” of its partnership with Tunisia.
France condemned the arrest of a lawyer, journalists, and members of associations in Tunisia, stressing that freedom of expression and association, as well as the independence of the judiciary, are principles guaranteed by the Tunisian Constitution and United Nations conventions.
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