The American president, Joe Bidenassured this Friday that he refuses to believe that “the greatness of the United States belongs to the past,” during a speech full of symbolism on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, military action that helped liberate Europe from Nazi occupation.
“I refuse to believe”
“I refuse to believe that America’s greatness belongs to the past,” said Biden, in a veiled criticism of his Republican rival in the next presidential election, former President Donald Trump, who insists that the United States is in decline.
The Democratic president gave this speech at the Pointe du Hoc, a promontory that American Ranger troops captured from the Germans on June 6, 1944, shortly after the Normandy Landings, in northwest France.
“Who can doubt that they would want the United States to rise up against the aggression of [el presidente ruso Vladimir] Putin in Europe? (…) Who can believe that these Rangers would want the United States to isolate itself today?” Biden asked.
With his speech, the Democrat follows the line of the former president Ronald Reaganwho on June 6, 1984 remembered in that same place those “heroes” who “helped liberate a continent” and “end” the Second World War.
Against isolationism
The Republican then advocated asserting American power against the Soviet Union. Biden instead warned against the temptation of international withdrawalwhich Donald Trump embodied in his opinion, and defended freedom and democracy.
“American democracy requires the most difficult thing: believing that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. So democracy begins with each of us,” said the 81-year-old president.
Biden had warned this Thursday in France that “democracy is in danger”, during the official commemoration of the Normandy Landings.
Against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden, his French counterpart Emmanuel Macronthe British king Charles III and the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau They paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Allied soldiers who landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, a region in northwest France. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was also invited to the ceremony. on Omaha Beach, one of the beaches where the landing took place.
According to Biden, “we live in a time when democracy is in more danger in the world than at any time since the end of World War II. “Real alliances make us stronger, a lesson I pray we Americans never forget.”
Gratitude
In the French town of Ver-sur-Mer, Charles III remembered “with the deepest sense of gratitude” the Allied soldiers and French civilians who lost their lives during the Normandy Landings, as well as the courage of the French resistance. “Free nations must unite to oppose tyranny,” he said.
Trudeau declared for his part that democracy is being “threatened by aggressors who want to redraw borders.”
The great absentee from these ceremonies is Russia. Despite the high price that the Soviet Union paid in the final victory (27 million civilian and military deaths), President Vladimir Putin was not invited, contrary to what happened 10 years ago. The Western powers thus want to show their support for Ukraine.
France and Ukraine negotiate the sending of French military instructors to Ukraine and Zelensky must present to Biden and Macron the needs of his country during their visit. “The Allies defended the freedom of Europe then and the Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then and true unity can prevail today,” said the Ukrainian president on the X social network.
“We will not falter”
For his part, Macron promised to continue supporting Ukraine. “I thank the Ukrainian people for their courage. We are here and we will not falter,” he said, while guests gave Zelensky a standing ovation. In April Macron had warned that “Europe can die” from the Russian offensive.
Likewise, in an interview on French television, the French president announced that Your country will deliver Mirage-2000 fighters to Ukraine and will train its pilots as part of new military cooperation with kyiv. He also indicated that Western allies would consider a request from Ukraine to send military instructors to train their forces on its territory.
In addition to Western leaders, Macron invited some 200 veterans from Allied countries to the commemorations, the last survivors of the tens of thousands of soldiers who risked their lives on the sandy beaches and cliffs of Normandy, under intense German counterfire.
“I’m not particularly proud of what I did, but if I had to do it again, I would do it. I’m happy with our sacrifice so that others could have a good life,” British John Mines, 99, told AFP.
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen He accused Macron of using the D-Day commemorations to “try to gain political advantage” in the context of the current European elections, in which parties of that tendency could register strong growth, according to surveys.
Biden, who will remain in France until Sunday, has his sights set on his campaign for re-election in November against former Republican president Trump.
“The longest day”
In an operation prepared with the utmost secrecy, the Allies landed 80 years ago on five beaches on the Norman coast: the Americans in Omaha and Utah, the British in Gold and Sword, and the British and Canadians in Juno.
The landing, supported by the drop of paratroopers into occupied France, was the largest amphibious operation in history in terms of number of ships and soldiers deployed.
At the end of what became known as “The Longest Day,” 156,000 Allied troops and 20,000 vehicles reached northwestern France, under German bombing and air raids.
This operation marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi occupation of Western Europe, although there were still months of intense and bloody fighting ahead before the final victory over the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, in May 1945.
