Speaking to media on the sidelines of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting, Hon Ralph Regenvanu said that Vanuatu ‘s position on Matthew and Hunter was that the discussions with France had gone on long enough and this was what had prompted the approach to the International Court of Justice.

Vanuatu filed an application against France with the ICJ (ICJ) earlier this week requesting that the Court confirm its sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter. This comes further to DPM Johnny Koanapo and his delegation abandoning talks at the end of June. France does not accept the jurisdiction of the ICJ to arbitrate disputes between states. The Court has referred the matter to Paris, to establish if they will recognise jurisdiction in this case.

Éléonore Caroit, French Minister Delegate for Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Nationals Abroad told media on Wednesday that “France has always asserted its sovereignty of those territories” and that this position remains unchanged and that it continues to claim sovereignty over the two islands, which have been the subject of dispute over many years. In relation to the ICJ issue, the Minister told media that “all of this is very new”.

When asked how Vanuatu would proceed if France does not accept the ICJ jurisdiction Minister Regenvanu said that the next step would be to seek an advisory opinion from the court. He noted that this had done before in relation to climate change and commented, “we know what we have to do which is get a majority vote at the UN General Assembly to get an Advisory Opinion”.

Photo Credit: Ohanna Rabo Galo/TMC Palau