Talks between pro- and anti-independence groups in New Caledonia – mediated by Overseas Territories Minister Manuel Valls – this week collapsed without an agreement, leaving the French Pacific territory in political limbo one year after its worst violence since the 1980s.
“No agreement was reached,” Valls told reporters on Thursday after a three-day “conclave” held in a secluded hotel away from the capital Nouméa failed to produce any white smoke.
