Biden in France to commemorate 80th D-Day anniversary (2024)

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, June 5, began a state visit to France marking 80 years since the World War II D-Day landings. The three days of events in France, which will peak Thursday with ceremonies attended by world leaders on the Normandy beaches where the landings took place, are haunted by the new war shadowing Europe as Ukraine battles Russia's invasion.

French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, hailed the "spirit of sacrifice" of the soldiers who liberated Europe from Nazi occupation. Macron will host Biden, King Charles III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, representing the World War II Allied powers, to remember the heroism of the troops who gave their lives in the landings on June 6, 1944, to free Europe from Nazi occupation. For King Charles, it will be his first overseas visit since his cancer diagnosis.

The most honored guests will be the surviving veterans: Some 200 are expected, a number that is dwindling every year, with most at least in their late 90s and some over 100.

While the sacrifice of Allied soldiers will be center stage, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian President Sergio Mattarella will also be present as a sign of international post-World War II reconciliation. Flying aboard Air Force One, Biden touched down at Paris Orly airport and was welcomed by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Biden was also expected to promote America as a defender of democracy and international alliances during his state visit that will last until Sunday, contrasting himself with election rival Donald Trump.

However, the war that has raged in Ukraine since Russia's February 24, 2022 invasion will take center stage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the Western leaders in Normandy. The ceremonies will provide a hugely symbolic backdrop to talks on how Ukraine can gain back ground after Russian advances.

No official from Russia has been invited, after Paris reversed plans to host lower-level representatives in recognition of the Soviet Union's immense contribution in World War II.

'Cherish those who served'

Kicking off events with a ceremony in neighboring Brittany to remember French resistance fighters who landed in occupied France as D-Day got under way, Macron said he was sure today's youth was "ready for the same spirit of sacrifice as its elders." "As the dangers mount... you remind us that we are ready to consent to the same sacrifices to defend what is most dear to us," Macron said.

He honored Emile Bouetard, who died after he was parachuted into German-held Plumelec on the night of June 5 to 6, 1944, and is believed to be the first French casualty of the landing operation.

King Charles, whose visit to Normandy on Thursday will be his first overseas trip since his cancer diagnosis, led a day of commemorations in the English port city of Portsmouth, a key hub as Allied troops prepared for D-Day. "As we give thanks for all those who gave so much to win the victory whose fruits we still enjoy to this day, let us once again commit ourselves always to remember, cherish and honor those who served that day," he said.

Welcoming veterans as they arrived by air in Normandy, the French leader's wife Brigitte Macron expressed France's "deepest respect and deepest love," in a video posted on Macron's X account. "I am glad we won the war," one told her. "Oh yes we did" she replied in English, clasping his hand fervently.

'Continue and deepen'

Biden, Macron and Zelensky are coming together at a critical moment in the Ukraine conflict, with Kyiv warning that Russia risks gaining the upper hand without a significant increase in Western help. Macron has already sought to break taboos by refusing to rule out sending troops to Ukraine, a position that unsettled some EU allies.

Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Biden, according to the White House. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters traveling to Paris that Biden would tell Zelensky "how we can continue and deepen our support for Ukraine."

Yet there have been shifts in recent weeks, with the West showing readiness to allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to strike targets in Russia and France pushing for the deployment of European military instructors in Ukraine. Macron, who once sought to build a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly warned about the existential nature of the Ukraine conflict for Europe, saying in a speech in April: "Our Europe is mortal, it can die."

'The longest day'

The landings by Allied forces, backed by airborne operations that parachuted troops directly onto occupied soil, were the biggest naval operation ever in terms of the number of ships deployed and the troops involved. By the end of what became known as "the longest day," 156,000 Allied troops with 20,000 vehicles had landed in Nazi-occupied northern France despite facing a hail of bullets, artillery and aircraft fire. The landings marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi occupation of Europe, although months of intense and bloody fighting still lay ahead before victory over the regime of Adolf Hitler.

Three days of ceremonies will see Macron pay tribute to French victims of Nazi occupation, including 70 members of the French Resistance executed by the Germans at Caen prison in Normandy on D-Day. The 80^th anniversary Thursday will see leaders attend national ceremonies at the vast war cemeteries on the Normandy coast, with an international ceremony attended by all the main guests at Omaha.

On Friday, Biden will give a speech at the Pointe du Hoc – a clifftop promontory whose German bunkers were attacked by US troops in a daring assault during the landings – on defending freedom and democracy. Macron will also give a speech in Bayeux, the first French town to be liberated.

Biden will continue the trip in Paris on Saturday with the first state visit of his presidency to France, giving him and Macron a critical chance to push for peace in Ukraine and also the conflict in Gaza in talks at the Elysée Palace, before leaving France for the United States on Sunday.