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Scoop
6 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
New Caledonia's Politicians To Get Police Protection Following Death Threats
, Correspondent French Pacific Desk New Caledonian politicians who inked their commitment to a deal with France on 12 July will be offered special police protection, following threats uttered especially on social networks. The group to benefit from such measures includes almost twenty members of New Caledonia's parties, both pro-France and pro-independence, who took part in deal-breaking negotiations with the French State that ended on 12 July 2025, and a joint commitment regarding New Caledonia's political future. The endorsed document envisages a roadmap in the coming months to turn New Caledonia into a "State", but within the French realm. It is what some legal experts have sometimes referred to as "a State within the State", while others saying this was tantamount to pushing the French Constitution to its very limits. The document is a commitment by all signatories that, from now on, they will stick to their respective positions. The tense but conclusive negotiations took place behind closed doors in a hotel in the small city of Bougival, near Paris, under talks driven by French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and a team of high-level French government representatives and advisors. It followed Valls's several unsuccessful attempts, earlier this year, to reach a consensus between parties who want New Caledonia to remain part of France and others representing the pro-independence movement. Necessary concessions from both sides But to reach a compromise agreement, both sides have had to make concessions. The pro-French parties, for instance, have had to endorse the notion of a State of New Caledonia or that of a double French-New Caledonian nationality. Pro-independence parties have had to accept the plan to modify the rules of eligibility to vote at local elections so as to allow more non-native French nationals to join the local electoral roll. They also had to postpone or even give up on the hard-line full sovereignty demand for now. Over the past five years and after a series of three referendums (held between 2018 and 2021) on self-determination, both camps have increasingly radicalised. This resulted in destructive and deadly riots that broke out in May 2024, resulting in 14 deaths, over €2 billion in material damage, thousands of jobless and the destruction of hundreds of businesses. Over one year later, the atmosphere in New Caledonia remains marked by a sense of tension, fear, uncertainty on both sides of the political chessboard. Since the deal was signed and made public, on 12 July, and even before flying back to New Caledonia, all parties have been targeted by a wide range of reactions from their militant bases, especially on social media. Some of the reactions have included thinly-veiled death threats in response to a perception that, on one side or another, the deal was not up to the militants' expectations and that the parties' negotiators were now regarded as "traitors". Since signing the Paris agreement, all parties have also recognised the need to "sell" and "explain" the new agreement to their respective militants. Most of the political parties represented during the talks have already announced they will hold meetings in the coming days, in what is described as "an exercise in pedagogy". "In a certain number of countries, when you sign compromises after hundreds of hours of discussions and when it's not accepted (by your militants), you lose your reputation. In our can risk your life", moderate pro-France Calédonie Ensemble leader Philippe Gomès, who was part of the negotiations, told public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie La Première on Wednesday. Pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) chief negotiator Emmanuel Tjibaou, as early as Saturday 12 July, was the first to envision negative repercussions back in New Caledonia. Tjibaou's fateful precedent "To choose this difficult and new path also means we'll be subject to criticism. We're going to get insulted, threatened, precisely because we have chosen a different path", he told a post-signing debrief meeting hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. In 1988, Tjibaou's father, pro-independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, also signed a historic deal (known as the "Matignon-Oudinot accords" with pro-France's Jacques Lafleur, under the auspices of then Prime Minister Michel Rocard. The deal largely contributed to restoring peace in New Caledonia, after a state of quasi-civil war during the second half of the 1980s. The following year, he and his closest associate, Yeiwéné Yeiwéné, were both shot dead by a man who was identified as Djubelly Wéa, a hard-line member of the pro-independence movement, who believed the signing of the 1988 deal was a "betrayal" of the indigenous Kanak people's struggle for sovereignty and independence. 'Nobody has betrayed anybody' "Nobody has betrayed anybody, whichever party he belongs to. All of us, on both sides, have defended and remained faithful to their beliefs. We had to work and together find a common ground for the years to come, for (New) Caledonians. Now that's what we need to explain", pro-France Rassemblement-LR leader Virginie Ruffenach said. In an interview earlier this week, Valls said he was very much aware of the local tensions. "I'm aware there are risks, even serious ones. And not only political. There are threats on elections, on politicians, on the delegations. What I'm calling for is debate, confrontation of ideas and calm". "I'm aware that there are extremists out there, who may want to provoke a civil war...a tragedy is always possible. "The risk is always there. Since the accord was signed, there have been direct threats on New Caledonian leaders, pro-independence or anti-independence. We're going to act to prevent this. There cannot be death threats on social networks against pro-independence or anti-independence leaders", Valls said. Over the past few days, special protection French Police officers have already been deployed to New Caledonia to take care of politicians who took part in the Bougival talks and wish to be placed under special scrutiny. "They will be more protected than (French cabinet) ministers", French national public broadcaster France Inter reported on Tuesday.
LeMonde
07-07-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
Report on China by French MP close to Mélenchon raises eyebrows
"This report, by going against the river, is deeply pro-French and alter-globalist": The concluding words of the 153-page report, authored by Sophia Chikirou of radical left party La France Insoumise (LFI), are consistent with its appraisal of relations between the European Union and China. Throughout the report, the MP for Paris lays out an indictment of EU policies, which she argues are "too often aligned with American policy vis-à-vis Beijing." The "resolutely trans-Atlantic approach adopted by Europe has resulted in a kind of trade war against China, with harmful effects," she writes. Yet this highly political document did not come from within LFI, whose pro-Beijing positions have increased in recent years. The report is an official document of the Assemblée Nationale's European Affairs Committee, which authorized its publication on June 17. The debate around the report was brief, with only eight members present: four from LFI, three from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party, and one from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN). It is rare for official parliamentary reports on sensitive international matters to diverge so sharply from government policy. Sinologist and political scientist Paul Charon warned the report was likely to be manipulated: "This report is very positive for the Chinese authorities. They would be mistaken not to use it to highlight the lack of unity within the French authorities." According to a European diplomat, "When the Chinese embassy discovers the report, it will be delighted to drive a wedge into the French position."
Saudi Gazette
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Europe's bid to stand alone
In recent weeks, European nations have been grappling with a shifting geopolitical reality: the United States, under President Donald Trump's influence and perhaps again in the near future, appears increasingly insistent that Europe should manage its own fate and shoulder the consequences of its choices. This stance is hardly surprising—Trump has long expressed frustration over what he perceives as America's disproportionate burden in defending a continent unwilling to invest adequately in its own security. At the same time, as European leaders champion their support for Ukraine and call for strategic autonomy, it is as though the continent is telling itself, in that familiar, world-weary voice: 'Let me be.' Should this divergence continue over the next four years, it will reshape not only transatlantic relations but also the broader dynamics of the war in Ukraine. Voices advocating for European independence from Washington are growing louder, particularly in Britain and Germany. But it is France that seems most eager to redefine its global role. Seeking to compensate for diminishing influence—especially in Africa, where recent military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have ousted pro-French governments and expelled French forces—France now finds itself on the defensive. Its sway has been eclipsed by the rise of Russian influence via the Wagner Group, and by China's expanding presence on the continent. In response, France is working to strengthen ties with more stable African nations, such as those in the eastern Sahel and Senegal, while also attempting to boost its economic and political footprint in Asia and Eastern Europe. Yet even as President Emmanuel Macron dreams of a 'new Europe,' he and his European allies may be underestimating just how much the international order has changed. The next four years, particularly if Trump returns to office, could see some of the most difficult transatlantic tensions yet. The friction is already evident. Macron, along with German leaders and to a lesser extent British officials, has openly clashed with Trump over NATO. The US president has repeatedly criticized Europe for not meeting defense spending commitments and has even suggested the U.S. might not defend NATO members that fail to 'pay their share.' Such rhetoric has shaken European confidence in Washington's reliability as a long-term strategic ally. France and Germany have responded by pushing for a more autonomous European defense posture, a concept Macron has called 'strategic independence.' His vision for Europe diverges sharply from Trump's on several fronts: defense, climate change (with Trump having pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement), and multilateralism, which Macron champions even as Trump has embraced unilateral action. Meanwhile, it's important to recall that NATO's eastward expansion after the Cold War was perceived by Russia as a grave provocation. Many analysts argue that this expansion, viewed by Moscow as a direct threat, played a role in igniting the Ukraine conflict—particularly as Ukraine's potential NATO membership crossed what the Kremlin considers a red line. Ultimately, the path forward is murky. The prospect of stability in Europe, and indeed in the broader global system, hinges on whether the continent can reconcile its aspirations for independence with the reality that great powers—whether American, Russian, or Chinese—continue to shape the world in which Europe must find its place in the sun.
