French Territory’s Peace Proposal Stumbles at 1st Hurdle

The French territory’s oldest pro-independence party has denounced the deal signed in Paris. Observers have warned that its failure could lead to civil war.

The Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) candidate Emmanuel Tjibaou delivers a press conference in Dumbea, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on July 3, 2024. Delphine Mayeur/AFP via Getty Images

New Caledonia’s oldest pro-independence political party, the Union Calédonienne (UC), has rejected a plan which would have seen a compromise to bring peace and stability to the troubled Pacific island nation, a territory of France since 1853.

It wasn’t until the early 20th century that local movements arose seeking greater autonomy, with some indigenous Kanak groups advocating for complete independence. The 1980s and 90s were periods of widespread violence and saw the assassination of Pierre Declercq, a leader of the UC and the formation of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), which proclaimed a provisional government, leading to clashes with French authorities.

There followed a series of three referenda, in 2018, 2020, and 2021, with the first two showing a narrowing margin for staying with France. The third resulted in a large majority vote against independence, largely due to a boycott by indigenous Kanak leaders following the COVID-19 pandemic.

With nothing resolved and tensions still running high, last year violence erupted again, marked by arson, kidnapping, riots, over 2 billion euro in material damage, thousands of jobless, the destruction of hundreds of businesses, and 14 deaths.

French President Emmanuel Macron made an emergency visit and announced that talks would be held this year, aimed at settling the situation permanently.

Gendarmerie armoured vehicles are seen near a police station in Noumea, France's Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on May 18, 2024. Hundreds of French security personnel tried to restore order after a fifth night of riots, looting and unrest. Delphine Mayeur /AFP via Getty Images

And so, on July 12, when 18 New Caledonia loyalist and independence leaders emerged from a summit after 10 days of negotiation—saying they had reached an agreement—it looked as though 172 years of violence and strife had come to an end.

The deal they had negotiated, and to which the French government seemed likely to agree, created a “State of New Caledonia” and granted the island’s residents their own nationality.

The local government would be granted far greater powers, covering even foreign policy as well as defence, currency, security, and justice. It even potentially paved the way for New Caledonia to become a member state of the United Nations.

Pro-Independence Movement Not Keen on Accord

But it fell short of granting the territory independence from France. Delegates from the various pro-independence groups who attended, including those from the UC, were optimistic that the deal would find acceptance among their members, though all the leaders publicly described the Bogival Accord as a compromise, saying that no one was 100 percent satisfied.

Independence leader Emmanuel Tjibaou predicted that “delegations will be insulted and threatened” by supporters over aspects of the agreement, which he called “a necessary convergence of interests, saying much about the strong attachment of both sides to the territory.”

Leaders from both the loyalist and pro-democracy factions did receive thinly veiled death threats from their more militant supporters and were put under police guard upon their return to Nouméa. But it was hoped they could sell the Accord to the majority of their members.

That hope is fading, however, with one of the main players in the UC—a central pillar of the FLNKS—indicating they disapprove of their negotiators having signed the Accord. UC held its executive committee on July 21, its steering committee on July 26, and FLNKS convened its political bureau on July 23; all concluded in a rejection of the Bougival document.

French Overseas Minister Manuel Valls greets the families of fallen gendarmes during his visit to the Saint-Michel Gendarmerie Brigade, in the commune of Le Mont-Dore, New Caledonia, Feb. 23, 2025. Delphine Mayeur/AFP via Getty Images

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday (July 31), the group’s leaders made it clear that they “formally reject” the agreement because they see it as a “lure of sovereignty” which does not guarantee either real sovereignty or political balance.

Tjibaou, the FLNKS chief negotiator who is also UC’s chair, said he “didn’t have a mandate to sign a political agreement” but rather to “register the talks and bring them back to our people so that a decision can be made ... it didn’t mean an acceptance on our part.”

He called the Accord a “temporary” document, subject to further discussions, and claimed some of his delegations’ amendments “went missing” from the final text.

UC Vice-Oresident Mickaël Forrest went further, saying, “As far as we’re concerned, Bougival, it’s over.”

French Minister’s Response

French Minister of Overseas Manuel Valls said, via French media, that he asked UC to consider its “great sense of responsibility.”

“If tomorrow there was to be no agreement, it would mean the future, hope, would be put into question,” he warned. “Investment, including for the nickel mining industry, would no longer be possible.”

“I’m not giving up. Union Calédonienne has chosen to reject, as it stands, the Bougival accord project. I take note of this, but I profoundly regret this position.”

“An institutional void would be a disaster for [New Caledonia]. It would be a prolonged uncertainty, the risk of further instability, the return of violence,” he said. “But my door is not closed and I remain available for dialogue at all times. Impasse is not an option.”

In May, before the talks began, Valls predicted that New Caledonia was “on the brink of civil war.”