On the introduction of a state of emergency in Tunisia. Tunisia extends state of emergency What experts say
Tunisian authorities extended the state of emergency again
Tour operators told whether the state of emergency affects sales in the Tunisian direction
The Tunisian authorities have again extended the state of emergency for a month throughout the country, RIA Novosti reports.
"The President of the Republic of Beji Qaid el-Sebsi made a decision, after consultations with the head of government and the chairman of parliament, to declare a state of emergency again throughout the country for one month from June 21, 2016, "- reported on the official page of the presidential administration on Facebook.
As the news agency reminds, the state of emergency in Tunisia has been repeatedly extended, since the terrorist threat persists in the country since last year.
So, in 2015, terrorist attacks shook places popular among tourists - the Bardo Museum and the El Kantaoui resort near the city of Sousse. In November, a suicide bomber attacked members of the presidential guard in the capital. The Islamic State group (banned in the Russian Federation) claimed responsibility for all the attacks.
“After last year's events, the Tunisian authorities take the safety of vacationers very seriously, we communicate with our partners every day, and they assure us that everything is calm at the resorts and there is no threat to tourists. Perhaps the extension of the state of emergency is only additional measure security ",- says Natalia Tumanova, manager of Tunisia at Wand.
“Sales in the direction are now stably active, the figures are higher than last year. By and large, there is no alternative to Tunisia on the Russian market, and even negative information in the media does not become a reason for refusing to travel to this country, ”- the expert adds.
“Tunisia is in high demand among Russian tourists, ranking 4th in the ranking of the best-selling countries this summer. The extension of the state of emergency did not affect demand in any way, since it has been operating periodically for more than a year. If you remember the same Egypt, then the state of emergency lasted for years, while the tourism sector was actively developing.
Rather, on the contrary, the introduction of a state of emergency allows the Tunisian army to use all possible resources to protect tourist areas and ensure the safety of tourists. This is confirmed by the reviews of our tourists who returned from Tunisia - according to them, the tourist areas and hotels are so carefully guarded that a feeling of complete safety and tranquility is created ”,- said to us, in turn, Maria Konabeeva, TBS Marketing Director.
“This is a standard procedure for officials. The same was done in Rosturizm on June 2, a year later the department will again warn us about possible terrorist attacks in Tunisia. This is nothing more than a reassurance- sure Aleksan Mkrtchyan, director of the Rostov travel company and the network of travel agencies "Pink Elephant". - I urge agents to ignore this information and continue to actively offer Tunisia to Russian tourists.
Numerous journalists and travel agents have recently visited Tunisia as part of press and information tours, where they were able to personally see the highest level safety of rest. Believe me, no one wants a repetition of last year's history, and the country will do everything possible for this. "
“Tunisia in the summer season is the best alternative to the absent Turkey. Airplanes fly to Tunisia from 25 cities of Russia, besides, it is a visa-free country, there are no other visa-free foreign alternatives in this segment for our tourists now ", - concluded our expert.
RUSSIAN-TUNISIAN RELATIONS
Diplomatic relations between the USSR and Tunisia were established on July 11, 1956. Tunisia announced the recognition of Russia as the legal successor Soviet Union December 25, 1991
Within the framework of the Millennium Summit in New York in 2000, the first meeting of the Presidents of Russia and Tunisia in the history of bilateral relations took place.
June 27-30, 2012 Tunisian Minister of Foreign Affairs R. Abdessalam paid a working visit to Moscow, during which he held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Russian Federation S.V. Lavrov.
Sergey Lavrov was in Tunisia on a working visit on March 3-4, 2014. He met with the President of Tunisia M. Marzuki, Prime Minister M. Jomaa and Minister of Foreign Affairs M. Hamdi. M. Hamdi's return visit to Moscow on September 2, 2014 and his talks with Sergey Lavrov and other high-ranking officials made it possible to concretize the tasks of bilateral cooperation.
November 5, 2015 during his visit to Tunisia, the President The State Duma Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation S.E. Naryshkin held talks with the Chairman of the Assembly of People's Representatives (Parliament) M. Naser. May 24-25, 2016 M. Nasser paid a return visit to Moscow.
On March 14, 2016, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov held talks with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tunisian Republic Jinawi, who arrived in Moscow on a working visit. A joint Russian-Tunisian statement on countering international terrorism was adopted.
In 2017, the heads of the foreign affairs agencies of Russia and Tunisia met twice: in Abu Dhabi "on the sidelines" of the fourth ministerial session of the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum (February 1, 2017) and within the framework of the Third international conference Mediterranean: Rome Dialogue in Rome (1 December 2017).
On January 25, 2018, within the framework of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation A.V. Dvorkovich met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tunisia J. Jinawi.
On January 25-26, 2019, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov paid a working visit to Tunisia. Sergey Lavrov was received by President of the Tunisian Republic B.K. Es-Sebsi, met with Prime Minister Y. Shahed, and also held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs J. Jinawi. A thorough exchange of views took place on international and regional issues, as well as topical issues on the bilateral agenda. The tasks of further strengthening the traditionally friendly Russian-Tunisian relations were substantively discussed. At the same time, the progressive dynamics of the development of mutually beneficial partnership in various fields was noted, including the deepening of political dialogue, the intensification of inter-parliamentary contacts, the expansion of business ties and humanitarian exchanges.
The foundations for the development of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries were laid in the intergovernmental agreements signed on November 11, 1993 - on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation (on the mutual provision of the most-favored nation treatment in matters of trade and economic cooperation), on the creation of Russian -Tunis intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation, on cooperation in the field of hydraulic engineering (continuation of the provision of economic and technical assistance to the Republic of Tunisia on investment projects), on cooperation in the field of training professional and technical personnel.
The most fruitful development of cooperation in the field of higher education, health care and water management. In particular, with the assistance of the USSR and subsequently Russia, the General Scheme for the Use of the Water Runoff in the North of Tunisia for the Water Supply of the Capital and the Southern Regions of the Country has been developed and is being implemented. The foreign economic association "Selkhozpromexport" prepared design documentation and until 2006 exercised designer supervision over the construction of a number of large hydroelectric projects (Jumin, Sejenan, Gezala, Sidi El-Barak). The first and second strings of the Sezhenan - Jumin - Medjerda water pipelines were built. With our help, the National School of Engineering (ENIT) was created - the first technical university in Tunisia.
A special role in the development of cooperation with Tunisia is played by the Russian-Tunisian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (IGC), the first meeting of which took place in March 1999. During the fifth meeting of the IGC, held in Tunisia on May 19-20, 2014 ., an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of tourism, a program of cultural cooperation between the Ministry of Culture of Russia and the Ministry of Culture of Tunisia for 2014-2016 were signed. and the Agreement between TASS and the Tunisian News Agency (TAP). At the VI meeting of the IGC held in Moscow on March 30 - April 1, 2016, the parties expressed mutual interest in further development the whole complex of bilateral relations. In April 2018, in Tunisia, expert consultations were held on the preparation of the 7th meeting of the IGC.
On the whole, Russian-Tunisian trade and economic relations are developing dynamically. Bilateral trade in 2018 grew by 62% and amounted to USD 800 million (86.25% - the volume of Russian exports). The structure of domestic exports is dominated by oil products - 57.4%; rolled ferrous metals - 13.5%; ammonia - 11.5%; wheat - 9%. Clothing, electrical equipment, dates, fresh vegetables, fish and seafood are supplied from Tunisia to Russia.
Tunisian ministries and departments, business circles are showing interest in establishing direct ties with the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Contacts have been established with the Sverdlovsk region. Cooperation in the trade and economic sphere with the Republic of Tatarstan is developing. On October 15-16, 2018, the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R.N. Minnikhanov paid a working visit to Tunisia, during which he held talks with the head of government Y. Shahed, heads of relevant ministries and departments, and also took part in the business forum “Tatarstan - Tunisia".
Tourism is the locomotive of Russian-Tunisian economic cooperation. The Russian tourist flow to Tunisia in 2018 amounted to about 600 thousand people (in 2017 - 520 thousand). In March 2018, Minister of Tourism and Crafts S.E. Rekik once again visited Moscow, where she held useful meetings with Russian partners.
Effective interaction has been established in the area of civil defense. On October 14, 2017, the Tunisian National Civil Defense Organization's training center was opened after modernization, for the creation of which Russia provided Tunisia in 2014 with USD 4.16 million through the International Civil Defense Organization fund. The cadets of the center are on a permanent basis undergoing training at the educational institutions of the Ministry of Emergencies of Russia. For Tunisians, training courses have been organized in areas such as firefighting, diving and mine rescue operations, the use of information technology and distance learning.
Cooperation in the field of education is fruitfully developing, ties between higher education educational institutions two countries. In addition to the previously concluded agreements between such Russian and Tunisian educational institutions as ISAA, MSLU and the Higher Institute of Languages of Tunisia, in 2018 an agreement was signed between the University of El-Manar and a group of Russian universities (Astrakhan State Medical University, SPHFU, Tomsk State University named after G.R. Derzhavin ). Tunisian youth continue to receive higher education in Russia. Over two thousand Tunisian graduates of Soviet and Russian universities are united in the Association.
The process of spreading the Russian language is actively going on. It is currently being studied in 4 universities and 26 lyceums in 16 cities of the country. About 100 foreigners study at Russian language courses at the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Tunisia.
Humanitarian cooperation plays a special role in strengthening friendly Russian-Tunisian ties. Cultural exchanges take place on a regular basis. Russian creative teams take part in international and national festivals of a wide variety of genres held in Tunisia.
In the town of Bizerta there is a museum of the Russian squadron, the ships of which arrived in 1920-1921. to my last stop in this Tunisian city. The daughter of the commander of the "Hot" destroyer AA Manshtein-Shirinskaya is widely known in Tunisia - the elder of the Russian community, who has lived almost all her life in Bizerte (she died in December 2009). On December 27, 2011, the square in front of Orthodox Church Alexander Nevsky.
On May 29, 2014, a twinning agreement was signed between the Government of St. Petersburg and the Municipality of Bizerte.
An important role in the preservation of cultural and historical heritage is played by Russian diaspora in Tunisia, numbering over three thousand people. The most notable contribution to this matter is made by the National Public Association of Russian Compatriots in Tunisia - the Hot Club. In cooperation with the local authorities, the maintenance and improvement of the graves of Russian officers and sailors in the cities. Tunisia, Bizerte and Menzel-Bourguiba.
Work continues to improve the juridical base of bilateral ties. In 2016, an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes, two customs documents promoting the intensification of mutual trade, and an intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation were signed. Currently, a draft intergovernmental program of trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation for 2019-2021 is being coordinated.
Tunisia is one of the most sought after tourist destinations. The excitement around Tunisia is due to the recent terrorist attacks in the country, so many people wonder whether it is dangerous to go to Tunisia in 2016?
What is the political situation in Tunisia?
On the eve of 2018, many were interested in. Tours to Tunisia did not stop selling, even in connection with last year's events. Tunisia is in a high-risk zone due to militant attacks. The refusal of tourists to visit Tunisia is due to the terrorist attack that took place in November 2015. Recall that then, through the fault of a distraught terrorist, 23 foreign citizens died. This caused a wave of refusals to stay at the resort, and many travel agencies suffered losses.
After the terrorist attack, a state of emergency was declared in the country. These situations have affected the safety of tourists in Tunisia, but there is still no definite answer about political stability.
What do the experts say?
The Russian Foreign Ministry calls on citizens to remain vigilant and avoid high-risk areas. This was also repeatedly mentioned by S.V. Lavrov, discussing political situation in Tunisia. The border between Libya and Tunisia is the most vulnerable.
Despite the fact that the authorities are trying in every possible way to protect the country from extremists, it is almost impossible to prevent terrorists. On May 7, 2016, another attack was carried out on the city of Ben Gardan, which is located in Tunisia. According to experts in the Middle East: Islamic State intends to expand its zone of influence, destabilize the situation in the country and establish a caliphate in Tunisia.
The UN Secretary General said that Tunisia is on the brink of war. Throughout the year, foreign tourists are subject to a series of small attacks and, quite often, they ended in death.
Is it dangerous to go to Tunisia in 2018?
The country's authorities are trying in every possible way to stabilize the situation in the country. The streets of Tunisia are patrolled by gendarmes, hotels and local attractions are heavily guarded.
The fall in demand for holidays in Tunisia provoked an increase in hot offers from travel agencies, so now you can relax at the resort three times cheaper.
Based on the fact that Tunisia is on the brink of hostilities, in order to protect itself, it is better to refrain from traveling to the resort and wait until the situation in the country stabilizes.
According to official government sources in Tunisia, the country has again extended the state of emergency. It is caused by the turbulent situation in neighboring Libya and threats from the militants. The threat to the life and safety of foreign tourists will remain in Tunisia at least until March 22, 2016, according to the presidential administration.
Recall that emergency measures in the country were introduced in connection with the death at the hands of militants of 38 tourists in the seaside resort of Port El Kantaoui (Sousse governorate), in the Imperial Marhaba hotel, in June last year.
For the European tourist consumer, Tunisia is a great place for winter beach holiday... It has soft Mediterranean beaches, a developed hotel infrastructure, and can enchant travelers with amazing sights. There are antique artifacts on the territory of the country:
1. Militant Phoenician state Carthage and its capital under the same name. In ancient times, it was located precisely in the north of Africa, within the borders of modern Tunisia. Remember the winged aphorism "Carthage must be destroyed"? The Roman Empire fought three Punic Wars to wipe out a rival state in the Mediterranean. In these battles, glory came to one of the great commanders Of the ancient world- the famous Carthaginian strategist who made an invaluable contribution to the art of war - Hannibal ... The image of the ancient Carthaginian hero, the sworn enemy of the Roman Republic, imprinted in stone, is kept in storerooms Louvre (Paris , France), another decorates the park of the palace Schönnbrunn in Vienna (Austria).
The place where the city of Carthage was, the Romans sprinkled with salt so that it would never be reborn. But, ironically, it was those who destroyed Carthage who began to revive it ... Subsequently, the restored city became the capital of the Roman Empire in Africa and existed before the Arab invasion. In modern times, the borders of ancient Carthage are part of the city of Tunis.
2. The huge ancient Roman amphitheater in El Jem, built by order of the proconsul of Africa Mark Anthony Gordian in Tisdre. This is an analogue Roman Colosseum, its construction was carried out in 232 - 238 AD. e. The dimensions of the arena are impressive: its length is 65 m, width is 39 m (for comparison: the length of the arena of the Colosseum is 85.75 m, width is 53.62 m).
