TUNIS, Tunisia —  As French President François Hollande landed in Tunisia on July 4 to begin the first visit by a French head of state since Tunisia's uprising in January 2011, the country's ruling Islamists had just become more politically isolated than at any time since coming to power.

Would Hollande — given his country's historic hostility to political Islam of all forms — change his previously friendly tone toward Tunisia's government now that its biggest regional ally, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, had been removed from government?

In his speech before Tunisia's parliament, Hollande put any such ideas to rest and made it clear that France still considers Tunisia to be a model for the region. Tunisia, he said, had paved the path for democracy in the Arab world.

“This path can encounter obstacles, sometimes violent ones; it's the case in Libya. This path can be interrupted; it's the case today in Egypt. This path can end in a war; it's the case, unfortunately, in Syria. But the lesson that the Tunisian people have given to the world is that there cannot be stability, there cannot be development, there cannot be progress without liberty,” said the head of state in a speech widely praised by both Islamists and opposition members of the Constituent Assembly.