BERLIN, Germany, December 10, 2015/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
After meeting his Tunisian counterpart Taieb Baccouche at the Federal Foreign Office on 9 December, Foreign Minister Steinmeier issued the following statement:
Tunisia is being targeted by a terrorist network which will stop at nothing when it comes to committing violent attacks and whose aim is to destabilise Tunisia’s young democracy and to force its fanatical ideology on people. It must also be in our own interest to support Tunisia in the face of this threat and to avert another crisis in our neighbourhood.
We have decided to grant Tunisia 20 million euros to help secure its borders with neighbouring countries such as Libya, from where terrorists have prepared and carried out attacks against Tunisia time and again. These funds will be used to improve the training and equipment of the border police and help to install electronic border controls.
Background information:
Germany has been engaged in the security sector since 2012. In view of the situation in neighbouring countries Libya and Algeria, securing its borders is absolutely vital to Tunisia. Germany’s support is concentrated on this, with training programmes to improve security at border checkpoints, the deactivation of explosives and sea rescue operations. Within this context, the Federal Foreign Office also granted the Tunisian border police equipment aid in 2014/15, including body armour and thermal imaging cameras. The support to the tune of 20 million euros pledged by Foreign Minister Steinmeier for border security will be provided together with the Federal Ministry of Defence.
In mid-2015, a new bilateral border police project aimed at building the capacities of the Tunisian border authorities was initiated. The project is being funded by the Federal Foreign Office and implemented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in cooperation with the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police.
Following the attacks in the Bardo Museum and in particular in Sousse in June, other partners have also stepped up their support for the Tunisian security authorities. As holder of the G7 Presidency, Germany has established a coordinating mechanism and is conducting consultations on a regular basis between those providing support and the Tunisian authorities.
