SHËNOHET 14 KORRIKU, FESTA KOMBËTARE E REPUBLIKËS FRANCEZE .
Soldiers carrying the flags of 76 countries are walking down the Champs-Elysees in Paris, as France’s traditional Bastille Day military parade commemorates the centenary of World War I.
France has invited all countries that were involved on the battlefields — former allies and enemies participating altogether in Monday’s ceremony as a symbol of peace.
President Francois Hollande said in a message ahead of the march: “Ten million soldiers were killed or died of their injuries on countless battlefields. We owe them gratitude.”
Along with international guests, more than 3,700 soldiers, 50 aircraft, 280 military vehicles and 240 horses of the French national guard are to parade in Paris.
At night fireworks, exceptionally fired from the Eiffel Tower, will be dedicated to the theme of war and peace
The expected presence of three Algerian army officers and the Algerian flag at today’s 14 July, or France’s national day, celebration in Paris has provoked indignation in both France and Algeria.
The French far right and some army veterans object to the presence of the Algerians among 80 national delegations invited to represent the Allies who fought with France in the First World War. So also does a powerful organisation in Algeria which represents the “mujahaddin” or veterans of the struggle for independence from France in the 1950s and 1960s.
French far-right politicians and media have also objected to the presence of a handful of Vietnamese soldiers. The far-right Catholic newspaper Prèsent said the invitation to the fellouzes (Algerian rebels) and the “Viet-minh” (anti-French colonial predecessors of the Viet-cong) was an “insult to France”.
A spokesman for Front National said Algeria was part of France in 1914-18 and the Algerians who fought were therefore French. “This shameful presence on French soil is… a sign of great contempt,” he added.
The French Defence Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that 130,000 North Africans fought for France in the 1914-18 war. More than 25,000 “gave up their lives for our country”. To have excluded Algeria would have been “shocking”.
