PINA

The European Union Ambassador (EU) to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert has described the upcoming signing of the Samoa Agreement in Apia next week as a milestone. Addressing the Pacific ACP Leaders Meeting in Rarotonga Tuesday, Plinket said the agreement will include a specific Pacific-EU Protocol. "We are just a few days away from a historic moment in Pacific-EU relations: the signing...

The Secretary General of the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific (OACPS) Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti has emphasised the importance of strategic partnerships and strengthened collaboration in addressing the challenges faced by the region. Addressing the Pacific ACP Leaders meeting Tuesday in Rarotonga, Chikoti highlighted the new OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement, to be known as the Samoa Agreement, is a strengthened...

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Cook Islands in time for the Forum Leaders retreat to be held in Aitutaki on Wednesday. This will be his first visit to Cook Islands as Prime Minister and his second time attending a PIF Leaders'Meeting. Albanese said Australia is a proud founding member of the PIF, which has brought the Pacific's leaders...

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President has commended member states of the Pacific Island Forum in elevating sea-level rise for the attention of the international community, whose support and intervention is absolutely necessary to address these dire issues of climate change impacts. Francis Denis told journalists in Rarotonga, the UNGA and the United Nations as a whole must act...

With the region increasingly the focus of an intensifying contest for influence between super powers, China and the U.S, Cook Islands Prime Minister and Forum Chair Mark Brown urged all dialogue partners to respect “Our Voices, Our Choice, Our Pacific Way”. “The Pacific Way is to respect each other’s sovereignty knowing it was hard fought by our forefathers. “May this Forum...

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has appointed Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Papua New Guinea Prime Minister as special envoys to address the West Papua issue. Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka said the decision was made during the MSG sub regional meeting on Monday on the fringes of the Forum Leaders Meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. “The Melanesian Spearhead Group...

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President Dennis Francis says no effort should be spared to safeguard and defend the 'inalienability of affected Member States’ sovereignty and statehood. He made the remarks when he addressed the Smaller Islands States (SIS) meeting Monday in Rarotonga, a first for a UNGA sitting President to speak at the Forum Leaders Meeting. The SIS of the...

The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) has agreed to appoint a special envoy to engage in talks with Indonesia on the issue of West Papua. This was confirmed by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka at the end of the MSG Leaders sub-regional meeting in Rarotonga today. Pacific leaders at the Forum Leaders Meeting in Tuvalu in 2019 “strongly encouraged” Indonesia to finalise...

Pacific Islands Forum Chairman and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the time is ripe to consider what role they see the Smaller Islands States (SIS) playing both now and into the future. Brown made the statement at the opening of the Smaller Islands States (SIS) in Rarotonga on Monday ahead of the opening of the 52nd Forum Leaders...

In a turn of events at today's Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Meeting, Prime Minister Rabuka extended a heartfelt apology to the MSG Leaders Caucus for the statement he made regarding the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima Plant in Japan, following his review of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report. He explained that his earlier statement was not...