Paris, July 14
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday sought to showcase European military cooperation in the annual Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions between Europe the United States.
Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron to watch the parade down the Champs-Elysees that marks the July 14, 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris in the French Revolution.
Over 4,000 members of the armed forces, including regiments from other European armies, marched down the famed cobbles of the avenue in a tradition that dates back to the aftermath of World War I.
Army dogs festooned with medals, members of France’s celebrated Foreign Legion and mounted cavalry in glittering uniforms brandishing ceremonial sabres all paraded in front of the high-ranking guests.
Meanwhile, French inventor and entrepreneur Franky Zapata showed off his futuristic flyboard, soaring above the Champs Elysees and the assembled leaders.
Standing in an open-top command car alongside France’s chief of staff General Francois Lecointre, Macron inspected the waiting forces and waved to the crowds.
But in a reminder of the domestic troubles, the President has faced in the last months, he met jeers and whistles from supporters of the “yellow vest” movement who have staged weekly protests against the government.
Two prominent members of the movement Jerome Rodrigues and Maxime Nicolle, were both detained by the police, sources said.
Closer European defence cooperation has been one of Macron’s key foreign policy aims and the President shows no sign of wavering despite growing political turbulence in Germany and Britain’s looming exit from the European Union.
At the 2017 parade, Macron’s guest of honour was the freshly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump as the young French leader sought to take the initiative in forming a bond with his counterpart.
But since then ties between Trump and Macron have soured over the US pullout from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, as well as France’s new law for a tax on digital giants, mostly US companies.
Macron, who pushed the idea of the European Intervention Initiative (E2I) to undertake missions outside of existing structures like NATO, says European defence cooperation is crucial.
“Never, since the end of World War II has Europe been so important,” Macron said in a statement to mark July 14. He said the aim of the E2I was to “act together and reinforce our capacity to act together,” adding: “Our security and our defence pass through Europe.” Forces from all nine countries taking part alongside France in the E2I—including Britain and Germany—were represented at the parade.
In a sign of France’s ambition to be a leading modern military power under Macron, the president Saturday announced the creation of a national space force command that will eventually be part of the air force.
Highlighting France’s continued commitment to NATO, the alliance’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg was also present at the parade. — AFP
Franky Zapata — The ‘Flying soldier’
- A French inventor and entrepreneur on Sunday soared above the Champs-Elysees on a turbine engine-powered flyboard in front of President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders
- Former jet-skiing champion Franky Zapata, grasping a rifle in a sign of the possible military uses of his device, took to the air in a futuristic showpiece of the annual Bastille Day parade
- Zapata, who first developed his device flying above water, says that the flyboard has the power to take off and reach speeds up to 190 km an hour and run for 10 minutes
- He is now eyeing a crossing of the English Channel which, for the first time, will require a refuelling in mid-flight
- Zapata aims to make the crossing on July 25, 110 years to the day after pioneering aviator Louis Bleriot made the first airplane flight across the Channel
Show of strength
- Some 4,300 members of the armed forces, 196 vehicles, 237 horses, 69 planes and 39 helicopters were mobilised for the event in the heart of the French capital
- A German A400M transport plane and a Spanish C130 took part in fly-bys, as well as two British Chinook helicopters
- The Chinooks are a major symbol of British-French defence cooperation even as Brexit looms, with Britain deploying for France’s operation in African Sahel region
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