Concerned about the Victorian government’s growing closeness with China, French Island has decided to secure its future interests by applying to join NATO.
In what is considered to be a terrible blow to the Australian mainland, French Island has joined the waiting list to officially be admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the alliance of European countries, the United States and Canada.
Currently, the primary country waiting to join NATO, though its path is complicated by conflict, is Ukraine. Other countries have aspirations for membership, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, who have expressed their desire to join. It is believed French Island is next on the waiting list after that.
“We’ve got to make bold moves to protect our interests,” said Nigel Matterhorn, head of the French Island Citizen Defence League.
“I think that, considering our traditional links with France, that an alliance with China will not be great for us. We’ve got to look back to the ‘Mother Country’ for our defence, and this is obviously through NATO.”
French Island’s link to France harks back to 1802 when a French scientific expedition spent six months circumnavigating the entire island and, in celebration, decided to name it French Island.
This is despite the fact that Lieutenant John Murray had already named the island Western Island earlier that year.
The dispute was believed to have been resolved by a “best of seven” bout of “Rock, Paper, Sciccors”, that the French took out in a 4 to 3 result, cementing the name French Island.
French Island hopes to hear the results of its application after the NATO’s 71st Annual Session being held in the Republic of Slovinia next month.
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