May 8 Commemorations: Emmanuel Macron Assures That "We Will Never Finish Defending Peace"

Faced with the return of the "specter of war" to the European continent, "we will never finish defending peace," Emmanuel Macron declared this Thursday, May 8, during the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the surrender of Nazi Germany in Paris.

Eight decades after the end of World War II in Europe, the French president warned: "We will never finish fighting for victory."

"And we will never be finished defending peace. We will never be finished. And if some thought so, recent years in Europe and around the world have reminded us," he continued, during a speech delivered at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe.

As Russia's war in Ukraine drags on for more than three years, Emmanuel Macron has noted the illusion of the idea of ​​"perpetual peace" on the continent, which arose after the conflict.

Because "in recent years," Europeans have seen "the spectre of war reappear, imperialism and totalitarian behaviour resurface" and "the rights of nations flouted once again," the head of state lamented.

In this sense, "we will never finish affirming the place of our country, the ideals it carries, defending our independence, our freedom and a stronger Europe," he said.

Emmanuel Macron also recalled that France, after five years of Nazi occupation, had to impose itself among the allies at the victors' table 80 years ago when the Third Reich surrendered in Reims.

"We knew that this country, our old country, had a role to play in the dialogue between powers, the balance of the world, and the stability of the future. And that wherever its flag flew, there too flew a certain idea of ​​humanity," the president emphasized.

During the ceremony, to which Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa was invited, Emmanuel Macron presented the insignia of Knight of the Legion of Honour to Jean Daikhowski, a figure of the Resistance who notably participated in the Liberation of Paris, after escaping the Vel d'Hiv roundup in 1942.