France: a July 14 parade marked by the war in Ukraine

President Macron during the parade on the Champs-Elysées, July 14, 2022. AP - Christophe Ena

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The traditional July 14 military parade was held this Thursday on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Emmanuel Macron presided over the National Day celebrations, marked by the war in Ukraine.

The country was in the spotlight this year, along with others from Eastern Europe.

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President Emmanuel Macron

reviewed the troops, Thursday, July 14, during the traditional military parade given on the occasion of the national holiday, on the prestigious avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris, before settling at the podium on the Place de la Concorde in the company of the highest dignitaries of the State.

The Patrouille de France then painted the Parisian sky blue white red.

In total, some 6,300 people marched this year, including nearly 5,000 on foot.

The show mobilized 64 planes, a drone, 25 helicopters, 200 horses and 181 motorized vehicles. 

The 2022 edition of the parade was thus an opportunity to show the new equipment of the French armies, such as the Jaguar reconnaissance armored vehicle, alongside the new generation Griffon armored vehicle which is gradually replacing the armored forward vehicle (VAB) in ground forces.

The air parade, in which several European aircraft took part, including Greek Rafales, included for the first time the Reaper drone, used in the Sahel to track down and kill jihadists, while France is in the

on the African continent.

Marked by the context of the war in Ukraine 

The parade on foot, marked by the strategic context of the war in

honored the flags of nine invited foreign countries, most of which are neighbors of Russia or Ukraine: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

French troops recently deployed on the eastern flank of Europe followed suit.

Paris has significantly reinforced its reinsurance missions since the start of the war.

Some 500 French soldiers were urgently dispatched to Romania at the end of February as part of NATO and Paris is ready to increase its contingent if necessary.

France is also taking part in land and air reassurance missions in Estonia and its Rafale fighter jets are helping to protect Polish skies.

For Alexandre, a 17-year-old Franco-Polish man who is attending the parade for the first time, this mark of solidarity is very important. 

alexander

Stephane Duguet

Then, the armored vehicles of the army and the troops on foot were very applauded, in particular at the time of the passage of the firefighters and the gendarmes.

The parade ended with music with a song specially composed for the occasion, entitled “

” and interpreted by Candice Parise.

President Emmanuel Macron gives the first television interview of his second term on Thursday afternoon.

 Fireworks will then illuminate the evening sky of France, hit by a strong heat wave, with a large part of the territory threatened by fires.

Some 125,000 police forces were mobilized throughout France to ensure the smooth running of the national holiday. 

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