evidence: France (for New Caledonia) and Vanuatu both claim sovereignty over the Matthew and Hunter Islands, two very small volcanic outcrops at the southern tip of the Vanuatu archipelago. Prior to its independence, the Condominium of New Hebrides was a joint colonial protectorate, with a legal personality distinct from both Great Britain and France individually, although France and the UK each retained jurisdiction over their own nationals.Footnote 95 [...] Regardless of who is currently sovereign over Hunter and Matthew, in 2009 New Caledonia’s national liberation movement (NLM),Footnote 140 the Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste (FLNKS), signed an agreement (the Kéamu Accord) with the FLNKS stipulating that it would restore the islands to Vanuatu once New Caledonia was independent.Footnote 141 The FLNKS reaffirmed their support for Vanuatu’s claim in 2019, citing the close cultural ties between the islands and Vanuatu. The 1998 Noumea Accord between the French and FLNKS stipulates that the territorial integrity of New Caledonia must be maintained.Footnote 142 This provision undoubtedly intends to prevent a Mayotte style situation where one part of the population prefers to remain attached to France, but it also commits France to maintaining New Caledonia’s territorial integrity, including Matthew and Hunter, should they prove to attach to New Caledonia. The Noumea Accord also stipulates that for the time being international relations are exclusively a matter for the French government: whilst New Caledonia has no autonomy in this sphere, it is nonetheless to be associated with the French state in the exercise of this function.Footnote 143