There was warm applause for the veterans, before the arrival of the heads of state at the 80^th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. The welcome was just as warm for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was welcomed with his wife by French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron. As they waited for President Joe Biden to arrive they exchanged a few words, in this place where Allied troops once landed en masse on the mission to repel Nazi occupiers.

The international commemoration of D-Day took place on Thursday, June 6, on Omaha Beach, in the commune of Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer in northwestern France. It was a solemn and emotional occasion, at which the focus swung back and forth between the painful past and the heartbreak of present conflicts.

Imposing warships were anchored on the horizon. The security arrangements – 43,000 agents deployed – were impressive. The motorway between Caen and the coast was closed to traffic. But the air was spring-like, and the atmosphere good-natured.

In the morning, Macron allowed Prime Minister Gabriel Attal to represent him at the ceremony jointly organized with Canada, in the company of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Before the event at Ohama Beach, Macron focused on tributes to American soldiers with Biden at Colleville-sur-Mer, and British soldiers, at Ver-sur-Mer, alongside King Charles III, who appeared in grand military uniform. The British monarch expressed his delight at the "warmth and generosity offered by the people of Normandy" to the veterans, despite the Allied bombing raids that hit towns in the region, such as Saint-Lô and Caen, to weaken the German occupying forces and their ability to react. In Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, many houses were decked out in Allied colors.

Closing ranks around Kyiv

At each stage of the day, the sacrifice of veterans from the various Allied countries was acknowledged at length. At Ohama Beach, a youth choir sang Le Chant des Partisans, followed by the European anthem. Actor Lambert Wilson addressed the audience – officials, royals and soldiers from every country, as well as a host of other guests – in both French and English. Letters from the front were brought back into the light, with one American D-Day veteran rereading a letter he sent to his family on June 7, 1944, from the French coast where so many lost their lives. "Let us be worthy of the courage of those who landed here," Macron said, after awarding three American veterans who arrived on the beach in June 1944 with the Légion d'honneur.

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