Toribiong told reporters that he asked Obama for a meeting last month.
Toribiong also asked U.S. Secretary of Hillary Clinton for an expedited review of the Compact of Free Association’s financial assistance provisions which will expire this November.These provisions provide Palau with $19 million in annual assistance from the U.S.Toribiong said he has yet to receive a response to his request for a review of the Compact.Palau, he added, considers the U.S. as its “best partner.”Like the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau is an independent nation that has a Compact of Free Association with the U.S.Palau’s Compact took effect on its Independence Day, Oct. 1, 1994.Under the Compact, Palau is a sovereign state with the capacity to conduct foreign affairs “consistent with the terms of the Compact.”The Compact places full responsibility for Palau’s defense with the United States and allows Palauans to migrate to the U.S., its commonwealths and territories.
