Tunisia’s Foreign Ministry Summons U.S. Envoy

Tunisia’s foreign ministry says it has summoned an official from the U.S. embassy after Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns about Tunisia’s democracy.

Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi told U.S. acting chargé d’affaires Natasha Franceschi that the statement represented an unacceptable “interference in the national internal affairs”, the ministry said in a statement.

Blinken expressed concerns about Tunisia’s democracy on Thursday after President Kais Saied introduced a new constitution giving himself far more powers, but the broad reaction among Western democracies was muted.

The new constitution was endorsed in a referendum the president held on Monday, a year after Saied moved to shut down the elected parliament and start ruling by decree.