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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
World
RFI

Row over Scattered Islands revived as France and Madagascar hold talks

Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina (R) and France’s President Emmanuel Macron (L) signed economic deals in Antananarivo on 23 April 2025. Macron has ruled out giving up the Scattered Islands as a bilateral commission opens talks in Paris on 30 June. AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN

French President Emmanuel Macron and Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina will meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the future of the long-disputed Scattered Islands – a chain of uninhabited islets in the Indian Ocean with big geopolitical, ecological and symbolic value.

The bilateral commission, the first of its kind since 2019, marks a cautious reopening of dialogue over the Îles Éparses (Scattered Islands) – five islets run by France but claimed by Madagascar since the 1970s.

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