Pacific nations urged to 'stand together as a region' against 'external forces'
Photo:
Jo Moir / RNZ
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has urged Pacific nations to "stand together as a region" against "external forces" seeking to "coerce, cajole and constrain".
Peters is in France attending a range of meetings with world leaders, including the sixth Pacific-France Summit, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in Nice, where he made the comments overnight (NZT).
"As partners engage with our region, it is important that they do so in a manner that is transparent and supportive of good governance.
"Not all partners take this approach. Some ask Pacific partners not to publish agreements or avoid the Forum Secretariat when organising regional engagements.
"As we face external pushes into our region to coerce, cajole and constrain, we must stand together as a region - always remembering that we are strongest when we act collectively to confront security and strategic challenges."
Peters said New Zealand welcomed "France's long-standing commitment to the Pacific and the contribution it makes to regional stability", particularly in "supporting the economic development and security of French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna" as well as its humanitarian assistance and disaster response efforts.
"France is a long-standing partner in the Pacific, and we value its support in securing the prosperity and stability of the region during a period of heightened global complexity."
Peters at the summit in Nice, France.
Photo:
Jo Moir / RNZ
Peters said the summit played a "critical role in helping us to form a cohesive approach, resolve differences, bolster regional development and security, and use our collective voice to hold bigger countries to account".
He did not specify these "bigger countries" in
his speech
.
While in France, Peters also attended the third United Nations Ocean Conference, and held bilateral meetings with leaders and Ministers from Chile, France, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Singapore, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
Next on his agenda was talks with the Italian government in Rome, then he would be on his way to Jakarta, Indonesia.
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