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Ukraine war overshadows France’s WWII commemorations

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday marked the anniversary of the Allies' victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, overshadowed this year by the war in Ukraine.

Published: 8 May 2022 16:13 CEST

France's President Emmanuel Macron lays a wreath of flowers on the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

France's President Emmanuel Macron lays a wreath of flowers on the tomb of the unknown soldier at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP

Paris’ traditional WWII commemorations began on the Champs-Elysees avenue, with the president laying a wreath at the statue of Charles de Gaulle, the wartime French resistance leader and later founding president of France’s Fifth Republic.

Macron reviewed troops before laying a second wreath and reigniting the eternal flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

With the Covid-19 pandemic easing in France, it was the first time since 2019 that spectators were permitted.

Later on Sunday, Macron will discuss the Ukraine war with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, before marking Europe Day in Strasbourg on Monday and then meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

READ ALSO: Zelensky says he invited Macron to see evidence of ‘genocide’ in Ukraine

French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot told reporters that this year’s ceremonies “certainly took on considerable significance” given the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

“We thought war had disappeared from Europe,” she said.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian wrote on Twitter that “we won’t forget the soldiers from across the Soviet Union, including Ukrainians and Russians, who contributed to the victory” over Nazi Germany.

He added that “we reject all forms of instrumentalisation and manipulation of the memory of those who gave their lives”.

The Kremlin claims it is engaged in a “special military operation” aimed at “de-Nazifying” Ukraine, and has banned using the word “war” to describe the fighting in Russian media and social networks.

Kyiv and Western governments accuse Russia of war crimes, with Zelensky likening the invasion to Nazi Germany’s war of aggression across Europe in a video published on social media on Sunday.

READ ALSO: Macron says France to ‘intensify’ military, humanitarian aid to Ukraine

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Macron warns 'mortal' Europe needs credible defence

He described Russia’s behaviour after its invasion of Ukraine as “uninhibited” and said it was no longer clear where Moscow’s “limits” lay.

Macron also sounded the alarm on what he described as disrespect of global trade rules by both Russia and China, calling on the European Union to revise its trade policy.

“Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die,” he said.

“It can die and this depends only on our choices,” Macron said, warning that Europe was “not armed against the risks we face” in a world where the “rules of the game have changed”.

“Over the next decade… the risk is immense of (Europe) being weakened or even relegated,” he added, also pointing to the risk of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Macron returned to the same themes of a speech he gave in September 2017 months after taking office at the same location – the Sorbonne University in Paris – but in a context that seven years on has been turned upside down by Brexit, Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Macron champions the concept of European strategic autonomy in economy and defence, arguing that Europe needs to face crises like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without relying on the US.

He urged Europe to be more a master of its own destiny, saying in the past it was over-dependent on Russia for energy and Washington for security.

He said the indispensable “sine qua non” for European security was “that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine”.

“We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defence for ourselves,” Macron said, adding Europe could not be “a vassal” of the United States.

He said he would ask European partners for proposals in the next months and added that Europe also needed its own capacity in cyberdefence and cybersecurity.

Macron said preference should be given to European suppliers in the purchase of military equipment and backed the idea of a European loan to finance this effort.

Macron also called for a “revision” of EU trade policy to defend European interests, accusing both China and the United States of no longer respecting the rules of global commerce.

“It cannot work if we are the only ones in the world to respect the rules of trade — as they were written up 15 years ago — if the Chinese and the Americans no longer respect them by subsidising critical sectors.”

Macron is, after Brexit and the departure from power of German chancellor Angela Merkel, often seen by commentators as Europe’s number one leader.

But his party is facing embarrassment in June’s European elections, ranking well behind the far-right in opinion polls and even risking coming third behind the Socialists.

The head of the governing party’s list for the elections, the little-known Valerie Hayer, is failing to make an impact, especially in the face of the high-profile 28-year-old Jordan Bardella leading the far right and Raphael Glucksmann emerging as a new star on the left.

Macron made no reference to the elections in his speech, even though analysts say he is clearly seeking to wade into the campaign, with his speech reading as a manifesto for the continent’s future.

“The risk is that Europe will experience a decline and we are already starting to see this despite all our efforts,” he warned.

“We are still too slow and not ambitious enough,” he added, urging a “powerful Europe”, which “is respected”, “ensures its security” and regains “its strategic autonomy”.

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