Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has sounded a stark warning over the growing challenges facing the Pacific region, declaring that the “Blue Pacific” has long been exploited, threatened, and overlooked — and must now take charge of its own security future.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Pacific Regional and National Security Conference in Suva, Mr Rabuka said the Pacific Ocean has too often been treated as a “theatre for external wars” and “a testing ground for the most dangerous weapons.”
“This is the current reality of the Blue Pacific,” Mr Rabuka told a gathering of more than 150 regional leaders, diplomats, and security experts at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
“It has swollen because of climate change, and its rich resources are coveted by many.”
Mr Rabuka said Fiji’s own 2024 Foreign Policy White Paper identified the greatest security threat not within the country’s borders, but in a region increasingly marked by division, insecurity, and strategic competition.
“In this context, Fiji has decided that our most significant contribution to a stable Indo-Pacific is to focus on the challenge of peace and security in our own neighbourhood.”
Highlighting what he called a “polycrisis” threatening the region — from the erosion of the global rules-based order to the impacts of climate change and the rise of transnational crime — Mr Rabuka emphasised both national and regional responsibility.
“I feel a particular responsibility as the Prime Minister of Fiji,” he said.
“First, of course, for the sovereignty, security, and prosperity of Fiji. But also, for the contribution we can make to the region. We take that regional role seriously.”
Rabuka painted a sobering picture of the Pacific’s current threats that includes climate change, economic pressures, illegal fishing and drug trafficking.
“Transnational criminals exploit our vulnerabilities. They endanger our youth, our communities, and our future.”
The Prime Minister reiterated Fiji’s commitment to working with fellow Forum Island Countries to build collective resilience and regional stability.
“The Pacific must stand together, united in our values, clear in our vision, and firm in our resolve.
