The President of the Republic gathered on the Champs-Élysées, then took part in the Peace Forum, before a closing dinner at the Élysée.
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Lhe commemoration ceremony of the 104e anniversary of the 1918 armistice was chaired by Emmanuel Macron this Friday, before a lunch at the Élysée with standard bearers, commissioners of the Flame of the Unknown Soldier and presidents of veterans’ associations. The Head of State laid a wreath and gathered in front of the statue of Georges Clemenceau on the Champs-Élysées, a few meters from the presidential palace. He then reviewed the troops in Place Charles-de-Gaulle then rekindled the flame of the unknown soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, before calling the names of the soldiers who died for France since November 11, 2021.
The Head of State was welcomed at the Etoile by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, Secretaries of State Sarah El Haïry (Youth and Universal National Service) and Patricia Mirallès (Veterans Combatants and Memory ), and the Chief of Defense Staff Thierry Burkhard. The ceremony was attended by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, President of the Senate Gérard Larcher and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, whom the French President greeted accompanied by his Argentinian counterpart. Alberto Fernández.
Elisabeth Borne: ” Mlet us beware of those who flatter grudges”
Friday afternoon, Emmanuel Macron participated in the Forum for Peace which is held at the Palais-Brongniart, before a closing dinner scheduled at the Élysée. Elisabeth Borne, for her part, then presided over the celebration of the Armistice in the clearing of Compiègne (Oise) where it was signed on November 11, 1918 between France, its allies, and Germany, putting an end to the fighting. of the First World War.
“Memories of the First World War and those of the interwar period are more current than ever. At a time when the bombs are once again falling on Europe, they show us that resentment and the desire for power can obsess certain regimes to the point of tearing peoples apart and shedding blood”, declared the Prime Minister. “They also remind us that certain values must always be defended and that the cowardice of one day can cost the freedoms of the next day”, continued Élisabeth Borne.
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“I say: beware of those who flatter grudges, cultivate lies and maintain hatred. Let us beware of those who are seduced by strong regimes and are ready to sell off our values for a fake peace. Let us be wary of all those for whom division is a method and turning in on oneself, an ideal,” she warned.
“Our past and our present are full of so-called patriots who confuse the love of France with the rejection of others, who claim a history of which they rewrite each page. They are these illusionists who manipulate without shame and whose paths only lead to one direction: the precipice, ”added the head of government, implicitly targeting the far right.