By RFIPosted on 18-11-2019Modified on 18-11-2019 at 22:33

In Madagascar, it was a meeting that was expected. During the morning of Monday, November 18, a French delegation and a Malagasy delegation met for the first time in Antananarivo to set up a new joint commission dedicated to the Scattered Islands. The next meeting of this commission should be held in Paris.

It was a promise of the French and Malagasy presidents who, last May in Paris, had jointly announced the reopening of discussions on the fate of this set of five islets located in the Indian Ocean and claimed by Madagascar since the 1970s.

This meeting comes less than a month after the controversial visit of Emmanuel Macron on one of these islands . " Here is France, " he said in front of the cameras, a statement that had shocked Madagascar.

It is in this particular context that the meeting took place. We know that France's position would be rather to set up co-management for these islands. The Malagasy authorities are talking about retrocession.

Of course, this Monday, no decision has been made on this subject. It was a first meeting between the two delegations and to note the existence, at this stage, of a dispute over the question of sovereignty of these Scattered Islands.

" We have been able to talk about the present and the future to look for common solutions ," said Marcel Escure, head of the delegation and ambassador delegate for regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean region. He was the only one who spoke at the end of the day.

To the question: " What do you do with the resolution of the UN General Assembly of 1979 that asked France to return these islands to Madagascar? The diplomat kicked in touch. " Let's look to the future, " he concluded.

And on the Malagasy side?

On the spot, the Malagasy part did not wish to express itself. It was not until the end of the day that the Presidency reacted by issuing a joint communiqué.

" For Madagascar, the dispute is about the country's uncompleted decolonization process, in accordance with international law. To this end, the return of Madagascar's sovereignty over these islands remains a fundamental issue in the negotiations, "the statement said.

Negotiations promise to be long. In 1990 and in 2016, various works had already been undertaken without any decision being taken.

The next meeting of this commission should be held in Paris but for the moment no date has been announced.

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