Why France is strengthening its presence in the Pacific

Symbol of the strengthening of the French Indo-Pacific strategy, for the first time since 1993, Vanuatu, a territory wedged between New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands, hosted a ministerial visit from November 23 to 25.

After a first stop in Papua New Guinea, the Secretary of State for Development, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, traveled there, in particular to represent France in the Pacific Community, a cooperation organization which also includes the United States and Australia.

The boss of the Institute for Strategic Research of the Military School appointed ambassador

Another sign of Paris’ growing interest in the small archipelago is the appointment as ambassador this fall of the head of the Institute for Strategic Research at the Ecole Militaire, Jean-Baptiste Jeangène-Vilmer. It is “a message that we are sending, the South Pacific is of total importance for us, and in particular Vanuatu”, declared the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu at the JDD. It should also be noted that around a hundred positions created in the coming months at the Quai d’Orsay will be assigned to the Pacific.

Read alsoWhy is China’s economic leadership seriously threatened?

This tricolor tropism for the zone is also shared by Germany, which has recently had a special envoy for the Pacific based in Canberra (Australia) and has joined a new format initiated by Washington (“Partners in the Blue Pacific”). The United Kingdom is also multiplying alliances in the Indo-Pacific. This renewed Western interest “is no stranger to Chinese acceleration in the region. The defense agreement with the Solomon Islands signed in April 2022 is undoubtedly only the beginning”, underlines a French diplomat.