Top EU official urges tourists not to shun Tunisia

European tourists should continue visiting Tunisia despite two deadly terrorist attacks, a top EU official urged on Monday, as the bloc pledged to help Tunis shore up its security and economy. "I would like Europeans, even if they are worried, not to say farewell to this tourist destination," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said after meeting with Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid in Brussels. "If harebrained terrorists jeopardise the Tunisian tourism sector, it's because they don't like the Tunisian nation. And if other Europeans give in to this blackmail, they will have won," he added. "I do not want the terrorists to win."

But the advice runs counter to travel advisories put out by some European countries, including Britain. It urged tourists to leave Tunisia, after 30 of its citizens were killed last month in an attack on foreigners in the resort city of Sousse.

The Tunisian tourism industry – a key employer in the country – had already been affected by an attack in March on the capital's Bardo museum, which left 21 tourists dead. Both attacks were claimed by the Islamic State extremist group, which has taken root in neighbouring Libya thanks to a conflict there between rival governments.

The European Union on Monday outlined several areas where it is planning to help Tunisia, including by exploring ways to help the country secure its frontiers. Better management of the border between Libya and Tunisia is "crucial", German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, noting that its more than 600 kilometres are "largely uncontrolled."

EU foreign ministers on Monday tasked their bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, with quickly submitting proposals on actions in Tunisia such as supporting border protection, protecting the tourism sector and preventing radicalisation.

"The EU is working up a substantial package of economic and political support for Tunisia to show that we stand with the Tunisian people as they resist this attempt by the Islamic State to undermine their new democracy and their economy," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.

The country is widely seen as the sole success story of the wave of popular uprisings that swept across the Arab region in 2011. "Tunisia is the country that is taking a stand against the authoritarian and radical tendencies in the region with strength, courage, perseverance," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted. "We all have an interest in the Tunisian example not only surviving, but living and evolving."    (dpa)

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Radical Islamist groups in Tunisia: Tunisian-style jihad

After the attack on the Bardo Museum: Tunisia's darkest hour