Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said today that Malta and other Mediterranean countries had objected to moves within the EU to take a tough stand against the ousted Tunisian President's regime, saying that the bloc had to engage countries such as this rather than impose its model of democracy.
Dr Borg was reacting to ciriticsm by human rights groups which criticised Malta, Italy, Spain and France, for having adopted a soft approach to the repressive regime of then President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was ousted on Friday.
Opposition groups and media freedom were stifled during Ben Ali's 23-year rule.
Earlier today, Alternattiva Demokratika in a statement said that it was shameful that the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the Party of European Christian Democrats (PPE) had blocked a Green Party demand for a resolution of the European Parliament on the situation in Tunisia.
EU affairs spokesman Arnold Cassola said he had personally experienced the brutality of the Tunisian Secret Service in December 2007 when he was prevented from holding a press conference in Tunis with the Tunisian Green Party.
"The dictatorial Ben Ali government had on that occasion also threatened the Maltese government that it could not guarantee Maltese-Tunisian bilateral relations if the Greens' Press Conference were held".
Michael Briguglio, AD chairman, said the EU had for far too long been complicit in propping up the dictatorship in Tunisia.
"The dictator has fled but his apparatus is still in place," he said.
Dr Borg said that Malta did not agree with everything that the former Tunisian governemnt had done, but it was important to engage with that country. It was easy for some people in Northern Europe to call for severance of relations with Tunisia, but problems there affected the whole region.
Tunisia yesterday announced the formation of a new National Unity Government and said that political prisoners would be released and press restrictions would be lifted.
However, tension in the country remains high, especially as members of the former government continue to occupy important ministerial posts.