The French President is visiting New Caledonia ‘in a spirit of responsibility’, declared government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot on Tuesday. According to his entourage, he is expected to stay for a day

Emmanuel Macron will travel ‘this evening’ to New Caledonia, which has been hit by a wave of violence, to set up ‘a mission’, announced government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot after the Council of Ministers on Tuesday 21 May. The spokeswoman stressed that the President was leaving ‘in a spirit of responsibility’, without specifying the details of the ‘mission’.

The President is going to New Caledonia to ‘express his solidarity with the people of New Caledonia’ and ‘thank the internal security forces’ and ‘the armed forces for their contribution to the return of republican order’, according to his entourage. Emmanuel Macron is expected to stay for a day and arrive in Nouméa on Thursday morning (French time). He is travelling to set up a mission as part of a global operation.

Prisca Thevenot reiterated that ‘the return to order is the prerequisite for any dialogue’, in reference to the electoral reform contested by the pro-independence faction, which Emmanuel Macron believes must be validated by Congress before the end of June. She added that ‘the executive is continuing to work on a political solution for the territory’.

The extension of the state of emergency, decreed last Wednesday, ‘was not discussed’ at the Council of Ministers meeting, according to Prisca Thevenot, who pointed out that the situation, although still in need of improvement, was tending to normalise. The extension of this exceptional situation beyond 12 days requires a vote in Parliament before 27 May.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal also plans to visit New Caledonia, but ‘in the coming weeks’, said Prisca Thevenot. Since 2020, the New Caledonian dossier has no longer been under the direct control of Matignon, although three former prime ministers are pleading for it to be managed again from the rue de Varenne.