Sydney [Australia], July 27: French President Emmanuel Macron said he plans to reach an agreement shortly on a new status for the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific.
During a speech in the capital Noumea, Macron told numerous supporters that a constitutional reform specific to New Caledonia is expected in early 2024.
Residents voted to remain part of France in each of the three referendums on independence (2018, 2020 and 2021).
"New Caledonia is French because it has chosen to remain French," Macron stressed to the cheering crowd.
At the same time, however, the disappointed hopes of the separatists should not be underestimated. All parties should now "have the greatness to accept the results of the three referendums," Macron said. The independence movement boycotted the last vote and said that it would not accept the result. New Caledonia's indigenous community, the Kanaks, have long hoped for their own state.
For Paris, New Caledonia is important geopolitically, militarily and also because of its nickel deposits.
The territory, with about 270,000 residents, has gained extensive autonomy through the Noumea Agreement. The island is located some 1,200 kilometres east of Australia.
As part of the decolonization of New Caledonia, it had been agreed to hold three votes on independence. However, the agreement will soon expire.
Since the last referendum, the dialogue between separatists and non-separatists has largely broken down in the face of New Caledonia's new status.
Macron was the third French president to give a speech in Noumea - after Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1979 and Jacques Chirac in 2003.
Source: Qatar Tribune