Talks on New Caledonia's future statute are planned to be held in Paris in September, after last December's rejection of independence from France.
Photo: 123rf
The French interior ministry said signatories to the 1998 Noumea Accord are to meet to conclude the process outlined in the accord, under which three independence referendums were required to be held between 2018 and 2021.
The Noumea Accord said in the case of three 'no' votes, the political partners would meet to examine the situation - which had now arisen.
The third vote was held in December, but was boycotted by the pro-independence side, which refuses to accept the result as the legitimate outcome.
New Caledonia has been on the UN decolonisation list since 1986.
The Interior ministry said after the September meeting in Paris that minister Gerald Darmanin would go to New Caledonia to meet stakeholders to discuss the way forward, and Paris wanted a new referendum to be held in June on a new statute for New Caledonia.
Darmanin had earlier said he was already planning a first visit to New Caledonia this month.
However, the Kanaks' right to self-determination did not disappear with the referendum outcome, as it is an essential and inalienable international right, which is also recognised by France.
Last week, Daniel Goa, the head of New Caledonia's largest pro-independence party said his Caledonian Union was the only legitimate partner to discuss New Caledonia's future with France, and his party was seeking talks with France.
He accused French president Emmanuel Macron of aligning France with the anti-independence parties instead of remaining neutral.