Macron leads final Bastille Day parade with Zelenskyy in Paris

France’s Emmanuel Macron will oversee his 10th and final national day parade as president on Tuesday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy beside him, at the start of a day heavy with significance 10 years after deadly jihadist attacks.

The annual Bastille Day military procession, which marks the 14 July 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris during the French Revolution, will rev up the crowds before France plays Spain in World Cup semi-finals at the end of the day.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the celebrations in central Paris despite a scorching heatwave that has seen a forest blaze rage outside the capital and fireworks banned in many parts of the country.

The procession and airshow, this year to include some troops from Kyiv allies as well as Ukrainian troops and co-pilots, comes as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is well into its fifth year.

The parade along the French capital’s Champs Élysées avenue is to kick off at around 10:00 am with 500 soldiers from the Coalition of the Willing supporting Kyiv against Moscow.

Some 25 Ukrainian soldiers will follow the troops of coalition members, a day after leaders of member states met in Paris.

‘Powerful symbol’

France and the United Kingdom have since last year spearheaded the coalition, which includes countries ready to take part in a European-led multinational force on the ground in Ukraine after any ceasefire is agreed.

Macron said on Monday that Europe would fight tooth and nail for freedom.

“The message we send to the world is this: Yes, peace is our goal,” he said in a traditional speech to the armed forces.

“Yes, we cherish freedom and the rule of law. And yes, we stand ready to fight to defend them. Always, and at the cost of blood if necessary.”

A member of his office said the parade would be “a powerful symbol of a Europe that is becoming aware of how dangerous the world is and that it must take its destiny into its own hands.”

Later in the evening, football fans will be tuning in to watch France take on Spain at 9:00 pm.

After winning the World Cup in 2018, France’s team made it to the final during the last international tournament in 2022, but lost to Argentina.

Macron has said the sports event will be preceded by a minute’s silence for the victims of deadly jihadist attacks ten years ago in the southern city of Nice.

Anniversary of attacks

On 14 July 2016, a truck driver ploughed into crowds leaving a Bastille Day fireworks display in the southern city of Nice, killing 86 people and wounding more than 400.

The so-called Islamic State terror group claimed the attacker, a 31-year-old Tunisian man named Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, as one of its followers, after police shot him dead at the scene.

The attack came after the country’s worst-ever peacetime assaults in and around Paris on 13 November 2015, which killed 130 people.

This year’s military parade is Macron’s last as president before he steps down next year after a maximum two consecutive terms in office, the far right hoping for its best chance at seizing power in polls from April next year.

Far-right chief Marine Le Pen is pressing ahead with her fourth presidential bid despite an embezzlement conviction.

In his first months in office, the French leader had used the 2017 Bastille Day parade to wow his guest of honour, freshly inaugurated US President Donald Trump during his first term.

Additional sources • AFP