France's Macron calls talks on New Caledonia future
New Caledonian elected officials, as well as political, economic and civil society leaders would be invited to the discussions to start on July 2nd, a source familiar with the matter said. It was not immediately clear where the meeting would be held.
The French president in an invitation letter obtained by AFP said discussions would last 'as long as necessary' to address key issues 'with all the seriousness they deserve'.
'Beyond major institutional topics, I would like for our discussions to touch on economic and societal matters,' Macron added.
Home to around 270,000 people and nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris, New Caledonia is one of several overseas territories that remain an integral part of France.
New Caledonia has been ruled from Paris since the 1800s, but many indigenous Kanaks resent France's power over their islands and want fuller autonomy or independence.
Unrest broke out in May 2024 after Paris planned to give voting rights to thousands of non-indigenous long-term residents, which Kanaks fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.
The riots – the most violent since the 1980s – led to the death of 14 people and caused billions of euros of damage.
The president's decision to host talks alongside the Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls also comes after a French court freed independence leader Christian Tein in June.
Tein, who hails from the Kanak group, had been held in custody in eastern France since June 2024 over the rioting in the nickel-rich archipelago.
Advertisement
Investigating magistrates concluded there was no proof that Tein was preparing an armed uprising against the government, according to a source close to the case.
The last independence referendum in New Caledonia was held in 2021, and was boycotted by pro-independence groups over the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Kanak population.
The referendum was the last of three since 2018, all of which rejected New Caledonian independence.
Since the 2021 referendum – which pro-independence campaigners had requested be rescheduled – the political situation in the archipelago has been in deadlock.
Valls led negotiations in May between pro-independence and anti-independence groups, but they did not 'reach an agreement about the institutional future of the territory', Macron said in the invitation letter.
Earlier this month, the president declared he wanted a 'new project' for New Caledonia.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
an hour ago
- LeMonde
Senegalese man files complaint against France over father's WWII killing
A Senegalese man has lodged a complaint against the French state, accusing it of concealing the corpse of his colonial soldier father after killing him during World War II, his lawyer said Wednesday, June 25. Lawyer Mbaye Dieng said he filed the legal complaint with a Paris court on Tuesday on behalf of Biram Senghor, who is at least 86 years old. French authorities have admitted to killing his father M'Bap Senghor, a colonial soldier for France, in December 1, 1944 in Thiaroye, in what is now Senegal. He was among at least dozens killed when the French military cracked down on African soldiers demanding their pay after returning from war-torn Europe. While French authorities at the time said 35 had been killed in the Thiaroye incident, historians say the real death toll could be as high as 400. The Thiaroye episode marks one of the worst massacres during French colonial rule, and questions remain concerning the number of soldiers killed, their identities and the location of their burial. Historian Armelle Mabon, who has written a book about the 1944 killings, said French authorities at first said Senghor had "not returned" from the front, then that he was a deserter. They only officially recognised his death almost a decade later in 1953, she said. Last year France recognised Senghor and five others among those executed in Thiaroye as having given their life to France. "For a while, they lied to his family. They pretended Senghor was a deserter, that he did not die in Thiaroye, and then they admitted that he had," said Dieng, the lawyer. "They need to tell us where his remains are." France 'needs to pay' Dieng accused France of having left the country after independence with "all the archives of the period during which it managed the country, because there were things to hide." A French government source, however, told AFP in December that France had "done everything it had to" regarding the incident, and that all related archives had been made available for consultation. Excavations have been under way since early May in Thiaroye, with experts uncovering human skeletons with bullets in their bodies, some in the chest, according to a source following the project. "I don't know where my father was buried – in a cemetery or in Thiaroye," said Senghor, the only known surviving descendant of the slain soldiers. He said that he had been due reparations from France for more than 80 years. "It needs to pay," he said. Hundreds of thousands of African soldiers fought for their colonial master France in the two world wars and against independence movements in Indochina and Algeria. They are commonly known in France as the "tirailleurs sénégalais," or "Senegalese infantrymen." Around 1,600 soldiers from West Africa arrived at the Thiaroye camp in November 1944, having been captured by Germany while fighting for France. Discontent soon mounted over unpaid wages and demands to be treated on a par with white soldiers. Some protesters refused to return to their home countries without their due.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
France's far-right leader Le Pen asks protégé Bardella to prepare for 2027 presidential run
France 's far-right leader Marine Le Pen has asked her top lieutenant Jordan Bardella, 29, to prepare for a run in the 2027 presidential elections after her conviction for embezzlement, she said in an interview published Wednesday. Le Pen, the longtime standard bearer of the French far right, suffered a stunning blow in March when a French court convicted her and other party officials over an EU parliament fake jobs scam. The ruling, which Le Pen has appealed, banned her from standing for office for five years, which would scupper her ambition of taking part in the 2027 vote, in which President Emmanuel Macron cannot stand because of term limits. Le Pen has denounced her conviction as a "political decision" and a "witch hunt". Bardella, Le Pen's protégé who has since been named leader of the National Rally (RN) party, is widely seen as her heir apparent. "I have accepted the possibility that I may be unable to run. Jordan has accepted the possibility that he may have to take up the torch," Le Pen told French far-right weekly Valeurs Actuelles. A Paris appeals court could reach a decision in the embezzlement ruling in summer 2026, which means Le Pen could still run if her conviction is overturned or the sentence amended. "Until then, I will continue to fight," Le Pen told the magazine. "Of course, the situation is not ideal. But what else do you suggest? That I commit suicide before I'm murdered?" she said. She also said the anger of French voters should not be underestimated if she were barred from running, saying such a scenario could render the elections illegitimate. "Many French people, regardless of their political convictions, would then understand that the rules of the game have been manipulated," Le Pen said. Speaking to French daily Le Parisien in May, Bardella gave the clearest indication yet that he would be the RN candidate for president if Le Pen were unable to stand. "There is no ambiguity about the fact that Marine Le Pen is my candidate, but that if she was prevented from running tomorrow, I think I can tell you that I would be her candidate," he told the newspaper. "I cannot be clearer than that," Bardella said, emphasising "the overriding necessity to be united". Marine Le Pen: France's Martin Luther King? Papers react to far-right rally 05:54 Le Pen had previously played down a potential candidacy for Bardella, saying in April that he would be the party's candidate "if she were hit by a truck". The contours of the 2027 presidential election remain largely unclear, with only the centre-right former prime minister Edouard Philippe the main player to clearly state he will stand to replace Macron. Le Pen scored her best-ever result in the 2022 presidential vote, surpassing both left-wing groupings and the conservative right-wing party. But in March she was handed a five-year ban on running for office after being convicted of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament to channel funds to her party to employ people in France.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Hezbollah hails Iran's 'divine victory' over Israel
In a statement, Hezbollah offered its "most sincere congratulations" to the Islamic republic, praising its "glorious divine victory". The victory, it said, was "manifested in the precise and painful strikes it launched" against Israel, as well as "the lightning response to the American aggression against its nuclear facilities". On Sunday, the United States struck Iranian nuclear facilities following days of Israeli strikes, but a classified intelligence report concluded the attacks had only set back Tehran's nuclear programme by a few months. "This is nothing but the beginning of a new historical phase in confronting American hegemony and Zionist arrogance in the region," Hezbollah said. Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war against Israel last year, expressed its "firm and unwavering support for the Islamic republic, its leadership and people," emphasising that "any surrender, subservience or concession will only increase our enemies' arrogance and dominance over our region". Israel launched a major bombardment of Iranian nuclear and military facilities on June 13, as well as targeted attacks on top scientists and commanders. The Israeli strikes killed at least 627 civilians and wounded more than 4,800, according to the Iranian health ministry. Iran's retaliatory attacks on Israel have killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures. Later Wednesday, hundreds of people rallied outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut, responding to a call from Hezbollah to celebrate "the culmination of the struggle and sacrifices" of the Iranian people "who triumphed over the Israeli-American aggression". Ahmed Mohebbi, 42, who was among the crowd, said: "We are very happy about this victory that Iran achieved, despite the hits it took and attacks by America and Israel to prevent it from continuing its nuclear programme. "Our steadfastness is a victory," he told AFP. The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc Mohammed Raad said in a speech that Iran was "a regional deterrent force, like it or not." "It proved this with its steadfastness" and by standing up against "a tyrannical enemy who sought to impose its hegemony on the whole region," he said. Iran has backed Hezbollah since the group's founding in the 1980s, providing it with financial and military support. The group was severely weakened in its latest confrontation with Israel, which killed most of its top leadership and destroyed much of its arsenal.
