A false controversy to accuse Emmanuel Macron of ceding abroad territories | EUROtoday

“France is selling off its empire. » This is, in essence, the message broadcast by part of the far right and the right for several days. At issue: the relaunch of diplomatic negotiations with Vanuatu regarding two uninhabited islets located off the coast of New Caledonia, disputed for decades between the two countries: Matthew and Hunter. Also named Umaenupne and Leka, these two neighboring rocks occupy less than 1 square kilometer of surface area. But, between them, they bring 350,000 square kilometers of exclusive economic zone to France. And since the independence of the former Franco-British condominium of the New Hebrides, which became Vanuatu in 1980, the issue has poisoned the relationship between Paris and Port Vila.

The affair started from an article in Figaro Magazineon Sunday, December 14, affirming that “these pieces of France could be ceded to Vanuatu”. Just a few days earlier, Senator Christophe-André Frassa (French Abroad, Les Républicains) printed the written query he addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, on the topic. The parliamentarian believes {that a} attainable “territorial decline” within the area “could weaken national cohesion in New Caledonia”.

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