Tunisian President seeks Maghreb union

The Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki said in a statement on the occasion of a symposium organised by the Tunisian presidency on Friday under the auspices of what it calls “the five freedoms of the Arabian Maghreb: “We need a larger Maghreb where the Maghreb people can move freely, live where they want, and work without restrictions. Let us open the door to the freedom of investment.” The president said he was seeking the participation of all Maghreb investors to join together and form a unified Maghreb citizenship. Marzouki believes there is no place for the people of the Maghreb  in today’s world unless they come together in solidarity, highlighting the fact  that the government was "making efforts everyday towards a commitment to their vision of a united Maghreb." Marzouki continued: “There are major challenges facing our region at this stage; economic, security and strategic challenges that will become fiercer in the coming period … We cannot address these challenges individually. The result would be very negative, as efforts would be fragmented in a way that prevents any effective confrontation of these difficulties.” He added: “We need to look around us to see the advantages of regional integration, and see the negatives of fragmentation. We have not much time. We have no time at all to wait.” He said that Tunisia considers the Maghreb union as a matter of priority over many other issues concerning its internal affairs. “We have in Tunisia a lot of issues to be concerned with at this critical point in the history of our revolution, in addition to the reconstruction of the institutions within  a framework of a difficult democratic transition.  However, we propose this to our brethren at this early stage …This is because we regard this matter as important as any Tunisian internal issue" Marzouki said, to further emphasise the importance of a united Maghreb. Since he took over power. Moncef Marzouki has sought to activate a Maghreb union through the principles of what he calls "the five freedoms": freedom of movement between the countries of the region using only a national identification card, the freedom to settle, to work, to own, in addition to the freedom of the settled ones to participate in municipal elections. The notion of founding an Arab Maghreb union started back in 1989 and embraces Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Algeria, and Mauritania. However, the last Maghreb summit convened at the presidential level took place back in 1994, and since then, attempts to convene further summits have been  stalled due to Moroccan-Algerian discourse over the Western Sahara and the closure of the border between the two countries.pe