France, New Caledonia reach ‘historic’ statehood deal; citizens to remain French
After years of deadlock and violence, France and New Caledonia agreed to create a ‘State of New Caledonia’ within France, granting residents a new nationality concept
France on Saturday announced a “historic” accord with New Caledonia in which the overseas territory, rocked by deadly separatist violence last year, would remain French but be declared a new state.
President Emmanuel Macron had called for talks to break a deadlock between forces loyal to France and those wanting independence, asking New Caledonian elected officials, as well as political, economic and civil society leaders, to gather near Paris to hammer out a constitutional framework for the territory.
After 10 days of talks, the parties agreed that a “State of New Caledonia” should be created.
The archipelago is to retain “a status within France, with Caledonians who will remain French”, said Nicolas Metzdorf, an anti-independence deputy.
“No more referendums are planned, with the exception of the one confirming this agreement,” he said in a statement.
The priority now was New Caledonia’s economic recovery after last year’s violence that killed 14 and is estimated to have cost the territory two billion euros (US$2.3 billion), shaving 10 per cent off its gross domestic product (GDP), he said.