WILMER JOEL President Hilda Heine and her cabinet were formally inaugurated on Monday January 22 inside the Nitijela Chamber. Top dignitaries from the Pacific, Asia, and North America attended the inauguration. In her first second-term address to the nation as president, Heine outlined the goals of her administration in steering the country towards prosperity and […]
GIFF JOHNSON The Marshall Islands signed off on the Compact of Free Association Monday in Honolulu, the last of the three freely associated states to renew its Compact relationship with the United States. The signing was held at the East-West Center in Honolulu. East-West Center President Suzanne Vares-Lum hailed the signing as an “historic agreement.” […]
JESSICA STONE* Congress is reviewing a proposal from President Joe Biden to create new security guarantees for three Pacific Island states: the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. If Congress passes the Compacts of Free Association by September 30, they would provide billions of dollars of economic and security assistance for the nations and would deny […]
GIFF JOHNSON and HILARY HOSIA Last week’s signing of an MOU for the Compact of Free Association was momentous for the Marshall Islands and the United States, coming less than a year since RMI Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua took up her post and US Special Envoy Joseph Yun was named by President Biden to head […]
GIFF JOHNSON Two senior US government officials are — or will be — in Majuro for high-level talks with RMI authorities this week. Wednesday’s first in-person JEMFAC meeting in three years is to be followed by one or more days of Compact negotiations late this week with the arrival Thursday of the chief US negotiator. […]
The Joint Economic and Financial Accountability Committee (JEMFAC) held its annual meeting through a brief virtual call between the RMI and US members August 31. Representing the RMI was the newly appointed JEMFAC Vice Chairperson Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua and Finance Minister Brenson Wase were joined by Ambassador Gerald Zackios and representatives from RMI Compact […]
