Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
- author, Matt Murphy
- role, BBC News
- Reported by London
-
US President Joe Biden drew parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and World War II, in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings in France.
Speaking close to where 9,388 US troops who took part in the landings are buried, Biden warned that democracies around the world were again under threat, adding that autocrats were watching the West’s response to Ukraine.
Born in 1942, the president is likely to be the last US leader alive during the liberation of Nazi-occupied France.
Thursday’s ceremony was attended by many world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, King Charles III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“I thank the Ukrainian people for their courage. We are here and we will not weaken,” Macron said, as leaders gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a standing ovation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was not invited to Thursday’s commemorations, has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Throughout his speech, Biden frequently drew connections between the fight against fascism in World War II and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Dictators around the world are watching what happens in Ukraine,” the president warned, standing in a square dotted with small white gravestones of fallen American soldiers.
He asserted that the United States would “not run away” from the conflict, saying, “If we run away, Ukraine will become a dependent, and that will not be the end of it. Ukraine’s neighbors will be under threat, and the whole of Europe will be under threat.”
And he directly attacked Putin, calling Russia’s longtime leader a “tyrant.”
The president also repeatedly stressed the growing threat from anti-democratic forces around the world and the growing threat to freedoms, and sought to rally Western leaders around the world.
He praised the efforts of the “noble brothers” who took part in the Normandy landings, saying “the men who fought here were heroes.”
“They knew, without a doubt, that it was worth fighting for, worth dying for. Freedom is worth it. Democracy is worth it. America is worth it. The world is worth it.”
At the ceremony, attended by Macron, Biden stressed the importance of enduring partnerships between democracies around the world.
Biden stressed the value of the NATO alliance, saying “what our allies accomplished here 80 years ago was far greater than anything we could have accomplished alone,” adding that it was a “lesson that we as Americans must never forget.”
The comments come amid growing isolationism among some in the Republican Party, many of whose members have become increasingly skeptical of military aid to Ukraine.
President Biden has blamed some of Ukraine’s battlefield losses in recent months on his party’s delays in approving new aid.
He railed against America’s isolationist tendencies, saying, “The price of unchecked tyranny is the blood of the young and the brave.”
In an earlier interview with ABC News, Biden defended his decision to allow Ukraine to use US weapons to attack Russia directly, stressing that the attacks would be limited to areas near the border and would not extend to the capital, Moscow.
The ceremony, held under the bright Normandy sunshine, was attended by many American soldiers who fought in what remains the largest naval invasion in history.
On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 American, British, Canadian and French troops landed on five beaches.
Several of the men, wearing baseball caps as proof of their military service, were presented with France’s highest civilian honour, the Legion of Honour, by President Macron.
Image source, Getty Images
That same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a separate ceremony commemorating the 381 Canadians who died during the storming of Juno Beach on Normandy landings.
The Canadian leader echoed Biden’s message, saying, “We must all continue to uphold democracy every day. We owe it to future generations.”
Prince Charles and Prince William also attended Canada’s commemoration ceremony at Juno Beach in Normandy, where they thanked Canadian veterans for their “extraordinary acts of courage and sacrifice.”
Britain’s King Charles III laid a wreath at the British Normandy Memorial in Vers-sur-Mer during the ceremony, including a note recounting the sacrifices made on D-Day.
In his speech, he said he hoped the sacrifices made by veterans of the Normandy landings would “never be repeated.”
“Our gratitude is endless, and our respect is eternal,” he concluded to applause.