France’s minister for overseas territories on Thursday welcomed the news that New Caledonia has elected Louis Mapou as its first pro-independence president since a 1998 agreement with Paris gave the Pacific region more political power.

New Caledonia, home to Brazilian mining multinational Vale and French company Eramet, was the theater of unrest last year.

The island became a French colony in 1853, and there have long been tensions between Kanaks who want independence and descendants of the settlers who are loyal to Paris.

“I welcome the agreement reached by the government of New Caledonia on the appointment of a president. I congratulate Louis Mapou and wish him the best: I invite him to come to Paris or to a video call conference to discuss various common issues,” Sebastien Le Cornu wrote on Twitter.

The election comes just months before the third and final referendum that can be legally held on the island to separate from France under the 1998 Treaty of Nouméa.

The previous referendums in 2018 and 2020 did not produce a majority in favor of independence, but support for remaining in France fell from 56.7% in 2018 to 53.26% in 2020.

New Caledonia is about 1,200 kilometers east of Australia and 20,000 kilometers from Paris.

During French colonial rule, the Kanak were confined to camps and largely excluded from the island’s economy. The first uprising began in 1878, shortly after the discovery of large nickel deposits.

The 1998 Treaty of Nouméa, incorporated into the French constitution and aimed at ending colonial rule with 20 years plan, allows up to three referendums by 2022.