While conceding its French territories deserve more autonomy, France says ’the interference of a foreign power … is a matter for concern.’
In an extensive 111-page report on its Pacific territories, the French Senate has warned of “the interference of a foreign power” in the region, calling it “a matter for concern. It must be taken seriously.”
It also covers a range of issues, from changes to territories’ powers under their current autonomy status to the growing problems associated with the consumption of drugs, including methamphetamine.
Due to its strategic location in the Pacific Ocean, the senators note that French Polynesia is subject to the influence of major powers vying for supremacy in the region, especially “the United States, Asia, and mostly China.”
But it is Azerbaijan that comes in for the most criticism. Relations between the two countries have been hostile for some time due to Azerbaijan’s ongoing conflict with its neighbour Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, where Armenian separatists are seeking independence.
France is home to a large Armenian diaspora and a traditional ally of Christian Armenia.
Azerbaijan believes France is supporting the separatist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh, and has resolved to do the same to France in the Pacific.
The former Soviet republic invited separatists from the French territories of Martinique, French Guiana, New Caledonia and French Polynesia to its capital, Baku, for a conference in July 2023. That resulted in the formation of the Baku Initiative Group (BIG), whose aim is to support “French liberation and anti-colonialist movements.”
However, Azerbaijan disputes this characterisation.
“We completely reject the baseless accusations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Ayhan Hajizadeh said earlier this year, as riots broke out in New Caledonia.
“We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan.”
The Senate report says Azerbaijan, through BIG, provides political and material support to the pro-independence movement in French Polynesia.
In April, France recalled its ambassador to Azerbaijan, signalling a further deterioration in the relationship.
“The interference of a foreign power in the territory’s affairs and in its relations with France, already identified in New Caledonia, is a matter for concern,” the Senate report says.
“Attempts of foreign influence or interference aiming at encouraging anti-French feelings [in the Pacific]… must be monitored.”
Deal or No Deal?
The situation in the French territories is complicated by the range of views held by political parties and leaders in the region.
The report noted that, aside from the pro-French “pro-autonomy” parties, there were a range of political opinions within the pro-independence camp, from “immediate independence” to “an independence envisaged after 10 to 15 years” or a “shared sovereignty” with France.
That, in turn, is reflected in shifting allegiances with other countries, including Azerbaijan.
French Polynesia’s President Moetai Brotherson—a member of the pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party—said the territory would not sign any deal with Azerbaijan after a delegation from his party attended a “Congress of French Colonies” meeting in Baku in July.
But then photos emerged of Azerbaijian’s National Assembly Chair Sahiba Gafarova and pro-independence Congress member Omayra Naisseline signing a memorandum of cooperation at the meeting, with a pro-independence flag on the desk.
Today, the newly-elected President of New Caledonia’s Congress, Veylma Falaeo, declared that deal “null and void,” claiming Naisseline had “no mandate to sign it.”
More Power to be Given to the Territories
The French Senate also suggested that the powers of the territories to self-administer should be defined more clearly, and more authority delegated, noting that it is not easy for France to administer a territory located tens of thousands of kilometres away.
President Brotherson was in Paris earlier this month and met newly appointed Overseas Minister François-Noël Buffet.
“I was very glad to hear the minister say one cannot administer a collectivity, such as French Polynesia, from a distance of some 18,000 kilometres,” Brotherson told local media.
Buffet chaired the Senate Committee that produced the report. However, it gives little additional hope to pro-independence activists in the Pacific, concluding that the current autonomy status is France’s “most achieved example of institutional autonomy granted to a French collectivity under the Constitution.”
France provides its Pacific territories with annual funding and transfers worth €1.7 billion (US$1.85 billion).