The Elysée also announced that 480 additional mobile gendarmes would be deployed in the coming hours

Emmanuel Macron has decided not to extend the state of emergency in New Caledonia, which has been in place for a dozen days, as announced by the Elysée Palace in a press release at midnight on Monday 27 May. It will end at 5am on Tuesday 28 May in the archipelago (8pm on Monday in Paris). According to the Elysée, ‘the situation is improving’.

The President of the Republic has taken this decision ‘in order to facilitate the meetings of the various factions of FLNKS and the travel of elected representatives or officials capable of requesting the lifting of the blockades’. He emphasised that the lifting of the blockades ‘is a prerequisite for the opening of concrete and serious negotiations’.

Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed ‘his confidence in the ability of elected representatives to restore dialogue’. He recalled the de-escalation process that he had proposed to the elected representatives of New Caledonia. Furthermore, in the coming hours, seven additional mobile force units, representing 480 mobile gendarmes, will be sent to New Caledonia. In total, more than 3,500 law enforcement officers will be deployed in New Caledonia.