(TAP) - "The amount provided by the European Union without the knowledge of the Tunisian authorities as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery plan has been returned," said President Kais Saied during a meeting with Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani and Finance Minister Sihem Boughediri Namsia at the Cartahge Palace on Wednesday.

According to a statement issued by the presidency, the head of state explained during this meeting that the amount was returned because "this method violates our dignity and imposes a fait accompli on which we were not even consulted", as “our people reject favours under any title and only accept to deal in the spirit of strategic partnership based on equality and respect.”

The President of the Republic said that Tunisia is capable of overcoming all difficulties by its own means, through the determination of its people to be independent in their national choices and by involving everyone in "the war of liberation that we are waging and that we will accept only to emerge victorious, with our sovereignty and national dignity intact".

The meeting discussed the draft finance law for 2024 and the draft supplementary finance law for 2023. It also stressed the need to achieve social justice and real growth based on "our national opportunities and choices", according to the same statement.

The President of the Republic stressed that these two draft laws are part of a legal system that needs to be reviewed in many sectors, such as transport, health, education, social security and others, until the State regains its full social role. "The latter can be achieved not only through the financial laws, but also through the adoption of new laws to replace those that have been put on the scale to serve entities that are still working in every way to benefit at the expense of the overwhelming majority of the Tunisian people."

The meeting also addressed the need for banks and financial institutions to participate in this national effort, whether in their relations with the state and other institutions, or with citizens and young entrepreneurs in particular.