Joe Biden, King Charles III, Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the thousands of Allied soldiers who stormed the Normandy beaches in northern France on June 6, 1944.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden, US First Lady Jill Biden, Brigitte Macron, Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales, Australia’s Governor-General David Hurley, Linda Hurley and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg attend the international celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings and the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi German occupation, at Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy region, France, June 6, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters
US President Joe Biden warned on Thursday on the 80th anniversary of D-Day that democracy around the world is at risk, as leaders marked the 1944 landing in occupied France that helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.
Mr Joe Biden, Britain’s King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the thousands of Allied soldiers who stormed the Normandy beaches in northern France on June 6, 1944.
An honored additional guest was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a reminder of the more than two-year war that has raged in Europe since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Mr. Joe Biden vowed never to abandon international alliances or Ukraine in the fight against Russia, an apparent jab at his election rival, former President Donald Trump, who has publicly questioned the importance of organisations such as NATO.
“We live in a time when democracy is under greater threat around the world than at any time since World War II,” Mr. Biden said. “Isolationism was not a solution 80 years ago and it is not a solution today.”
“Real alliances make us stronger — that’s a lesson I pray we Americans never forget.”
‘It won’t end here’
Mr Joe Biden also pledged that under his leadership the United States would “not walk away” from Ukraine because the country would be “undermined and it won’t end here”.
“Ukraine’s neighbors will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened,” he said, describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “dictator bent on domination.”
Joe Biden said surrendering to goons or “bowing down to dictators” was “absolutely unimaginable”.
His message that D-Day provided lessons for the present was reiterated by Mr Macron. He spoke at a ceremony attended by Mr Zelensky near Omaha Beach, where US troops landed in 1944.
“Thank you to the Ukrainian people for their bravery,” Mr. Macron said, as guests stood and greeted Zelensky and French jets flew over.
He said, “We are here and we will not weaken.”
Kiev has been pressing Europe to step up its military support as Russia has gained an edge on the battlefield in recent months and concerns grow over what impact Trump’s presidency will have on the conflict.
The Ukrainian leader will address the French parliament on Friday and hold talks with Mr Macron in Paris.
Speaking to French television, Mr Macron said France would supply Mirage-2000 fighter jets to Ukraine and train its Ukrainian pilots as part of new military cooperation with Kiev.
He said Western allies would consider Ukraine’s request to send military instructors to train its troops on its soil, to meet the growing challenge of increasing troop numbers.
‘Resist tyranny’
The biggest guests of honor were about 180 surviving veterans, many in their 90s or even over 100s, some in wheelchairs and wrapped in blankets, looking out to the beach.
Mr. Macron awarded a dozen of them France’s highest honor, the Legion d’Honneur.
Mr. Zelensky knelt down to embrace a veteran in a wheelchair. He said to the Ukrainian president, “My hero!” Mr. Zelensky replied, “No, you are our hero.”
King Charles III said at the British memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach, one of the sites of British troops’ landing: “Our gratitude is unfading and our admiration eternal.”
“Free nations must unite against tyranny,” he said. “Let us pray that such a sacrifice need never be made again.”
‘It can never be less’
King Charles noted the dwindling numbers of veterans of the conflict, saying: “Our obligation to remember them, what they stood for and what they achieved for us all, can never diminish.”
Two experienced soldiers could not reach France.
100-year-old Canadian William Cameron had packed his bags several weeks earlier but died just before returning to France, while 102-year-old Robert Persichetti from the United States died on board the ship while on his way to the ceremony.
Film director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks also attended the ceremony, paying tribute to their 1998 classic film “Saving Private Ryan,” which tells the story of the events just after the Normandy landings.
Veteran singer Tom Jones and popular folk singer and actor Johnny Flynn provided music for the British ceremony.
No Russian officials have been invited, underlining Moscow’s current ostracised status despite the decisive Soviet contribution to defeating Nazism in World War II.
During a meeting with foreign news outlets in St Petersburg late Wednesday, Mr Putin played down reports that Russia had not been invited, saying: “Let them celebrate without us”.
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