Cook Islands and New Caledonia discuss nationhood

This week, Prime Minister Marc Brown met with New Caledonian President Louis Mapou to reinforce support and discuss future cooperation.

The two leaders met before the start of the 53rd plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly.^road
The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting is held in Nuku’alofa, Tonga.

Prime Minister Brown and President Map have held a series of virtual exchanges since May 2024 and shared a warm embrace before the Forum Troika Leaders’ Meeting.

“I was pleased to meet with President Mapu and personally assure him of the Cook Islands’ commitment to continuing to support New Caledonia through these challenging times,” Brown said in a statement.

“The Cook Islands’ journey towards statehood and New Caledonia’s ongoing quest for self-determination are topics that President Mapu and I have discussed on various occasions, and I will continue to assist and support New Caledonia’s efforts in the months ahead.

“To this end, I invite President Mapu to visit the Cook Islands to gain a deeper understanding of our experience.”

The two leaders also discussed arrangements for a delegation led by the Troika to visit New Caledonia, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.

They reaffirmed their shared commitment to advance these arrangements through mutually agreed “Terms of Reference” for the mission between New Caledonia, France and the Pacific Islands Forum.

The Pacific Islands Forum Troika-led delegation was due to depart last week. However, outgoing Forum Chair Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed in a statement that the delegation had been postponed because Mapu and other New Caledonian leaders had “identified a number of issues relating to due process and protocol”.

Last week, Brown told the Cook Islands News that he was ambitious to push the operation to address the issues that had led to the escalation of violence in New Caledonia.

“I look forward to once again being part of that high-level delegation to try to find a way forward and address the issues that have led to the escalation of violence in New Caledonia,” he said.

“New Caledonia is a full member of the forum and they are entitled to certain responses from the forum secretariat.”

The protests left 10 people dead, including eight civilians and two French soldiers. Rioters are estimated to have looted and razed more than 800 buildings and businesses, and unrest is still continuing in some locations, RNZ reported.