(Plumelec) French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday praised the “spirit of sacrifice” of France’s liberators by launching the commemorations of the Allied landings of June 6, 1944, in which his American and Ukrainian counterparts will notably participate, in a demonstration of unit against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
“I know our country is strong in its youth […] ready for the same spirit of sacrifice as its elders,” declared the Head of State during a first tribute in Plumelec to the Breton resistance fighters and first paratroopers of Free France within the British special forces.
“As the dangers mount”, “you remind us that we are ready to make the same sacrifices to defend what is most dear to us: our land of France and our republican values”, he added to the units of elite represented.
The Normandy Landings, organized in the greatest secrecy by the Americans, the British and the men of General de Gaulle, would open the way to the defeat of Nazi Germany.
It was in Plumelec that “the first French soldier of the Landing fell”, Corporal Emile Bouétard, who had joined England, recalled Emmanuel Macron.
“He was a friend of mine,” added Colonel Achille Muller, the last of the French paratroopers who participated in the operation.
Like him, veterans still alive are in the spotlight for what will be, due to their age, the last major meeting in which they will be able to participate. Dozens of American, Canadian and British veterans, some of whom participated in the “longest day,” have already arrived in Normandy.
American President Joe Biden, who arrived in Paris in the morning, will return to the Normandy beaches on Thursday, where he will meet King Charles III, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Head of State Sergio Mattarella and also his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, before making his first state visit to France.
Mr Biden is due to speak at official ceremonies on the beaches of Utah and Omaha Beach where “73,000 courageous Americans” landed to “pave the way for the liberation of France and Europe”, the White House said.
On the sidelines of this program, he is due to meet with Mr Zelensky, to see “how we can continue to deepen our support,” she added. The two men will meet again at the G7 Summit in Italy, from June 13 to 15.
A strong symbol, Russia, an ally of the United States and the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany, was formally excluded from the ceremonies due to its invasion of Ukraine.
The French presidency has made no secret of its desire to demonstrate Western unity on this conflict. Mr. Macron, who will welcome Mr. Zelensky at the Élysée on Friday, must in particular clarify his intentions regarding the possible sending of military instructors to Ukraine.
On June 7, Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech at Pointe du Hoc, still in Normandy, “on the importance of defending freedom and democracy,” according to the White House. A message that he intends to intensify in view of the new presidential election in November.
Received on Saturday in Paris at the highest protocol level, Mr. Biden will be welcomed at the Arc de Triomphe, before interviews and a banquet at the Élysée with Emmanuel Macron.
“While 80 years after the Liberation of Europe, war is back on the continent, the two presidents will discuss the unfailing and long-term support to be given to Ukraine,” said the French presidency.
“This close coordination on international crises will be intended to prepare for the next international events, in particular the G7 Summit” in mid-June in Italy, and that of NATO in July in Washington, added this source.
Mr. Macron is due to travel this afternoon to Saint-Lô, in Normandy, for a speech on civilian victims of Allied bombing. “Capital of ruins”, according to the expression of the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, the city was 90% destroyed on the night of June 6 to 7. In total, these Allied bombings caused 50,000 to 70,000 civilian casualties.
Finally, on Wednesday evening, still in Normandy, he will pay tribute to the inmates of Caen prison, mainly resistance fighters, shot by the Germans during the D-Day landings.
Before the European elections, which will be held on Sunday in France and promise to be bad for his camp, the French president has decided to stretch the commemorations this year over three days, until Friday.
Campaigning for his re-election, Joe Biden hopes to take advantage of this visit to France to distance himself from his rival Donald Trump, entangled in his legal setbacks.
After a visit on Thursday to the American cemetery of Colleville-sur-Mer, in Normandy, he must also lay a wreath on Sunday at the American cemetery of Bois Belleau, in Aisne (north), in tribute to the soldiers who fell during the First World War.