TUNIS, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday discussed with visiting Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva the ways to boost cooperation and diversify its fields, the Tunisian Presidency said in a statement.
Saied underlined Tunisia's desire to promote the ties with Portugal and the European Union as a strategic partner.
"Portugal will assume the periodic presidency of the EU in the first half of 2021," said the Tunisian president.
He insisted on "the need to recover the stolen money from the Tunisian people distributed in many countries of the EU."
Regarding the illegal immigration issue, Saied called for tackling the root causes of this phenomenon, citing that security solutions alone are not enough to eliminate it.
For his part, Silva affirmed his country's readiness to support Tunisia, especially with regard to the recovery of the stolen Tunisian assets in EU countries.
"Portugal is ready to boost cooperation with Tunisia at the bilateral and multilateral levels, particularly in the investment field," Silva said.
