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World leaders come together on beaches of Normandy to commemorate D-Day
World leaders have come together on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden participated in the D-Day commemoration.
King Charles III was also among state heads who travelled to northern France on Thursday to honour fallen veterans.
It was the monarch’s first overseas visit since his cancer diagnosis was announced in February.
Charles, 75, said thank you to elderly soldiers and their missing comrades during ceremonies at the newly completed British Normandy Memorial.
The memorial overlooks the beaches where Allied troops landed 80 years ago.
The royal, who served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, said while the number of living veterans was dwindling it was “our obligation to remember what they stood for and what they achieved for us all can never diminish”.
“Eighty years ago, on D-Day, the 6th of June 1944, our nation – and those which stood alongside it – faced what my grandfather, King George VI, described as the supreme test,” he said.
“How fortunate we were, and the entire free world, that a generation of men and women in the United Kingdom and other allied nations did not flinch when the moment came to face that test.”
About 4,400 soldiers died on D-Day.
Mr Zelenskyy said he was honoured to be participating in the D-Day commemoration and he would also attend important meetings aimed at strengthening his nation at war.
“This event and day serve as a reminder of the courage and determination demonstrated in the pursuit of freedom and democracy,” Mr Zelenskyy said on social media platform X.
“Allies defended Europe’s freedom then, and Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then, and true unity can prevail today.”
Mr Biden said “we will not walk away” from Ukraine’s defence as he addressed a D-Day anniversary event.
“To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” he said.
“Democracy is never guaranteed. Every generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it.
“That’s the test of the ages.”
Mr Biden also met with US veterans, where those who could not stand were helped out of wheelchairs to pose for photos with the president and first lady Jill Biden.
When he learned it was a veteran’s birthday, he led the audience in singing happy birthday.
Mr Macron bestowed a Legion of Honour award on a 103-year-old female British veteran officer who created detailed maps that guided the crews of landing aircraft on D-Day.
Christian Lamb sat in a wheelchair as Mr Macron bent down to pin the medal on her and kissed her on both cheeks.
He told her she was one of the “heroes in the shadows” as he described how she was studying in Normandy in 1939 when her father, a Royal Navy admiral, called her back to London on the eve of World War II.
Prince William praised the bravery and sacrifice of Canadian troops as he addressed a D-Day anniversary ceremony on Juno Beach.
The royal was joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and Canadian D-Day veterans.
Some 14,000 Canadians were part of the 150,000 Allied troops who landed or parachuted into Normandy in 1944.
“Far from home they stormed these very sand dunes behind me, shoulder to shoulder with thousands of British troops,” Prince William said.
AP
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