July 14: Emmanuel Macron presided over the National Day ceremony

The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron presided over the National Day ceremony and the military parade on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris, in the presence of members of the Government and military authorities.

This year, the theme of the July 14 ceremony is « Sharing the Flame », in reference to the flame at the foot of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and that of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

The honors are returned to Emmanuel Macron, place de la Concorde, by the 1st and 2nd infantry regiments of the Republican Guard. Emmanuel Macron is welcomed by the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu and the President of the Republic’s Chief of Staff.

The opening scene of the military parade begins, with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of Bagad de Lann-Bihoué, by the crews of the national navy fleet and the Breton military music ensemble.

Parade of 65 planes. This parade was commanded by Air Division General Louis Pena, second in command of air defense and air operations. The traditional passage of the Patrouille de France and the flight of a Reaper drone, used in the Sahel to track down jihadists.

Thursday, July 14, the various tables will highlight « the imperative of strategic solidarity with our European partners on the eastern flank », as desired by the military governor of Paris, General Christophe Abad. For this 2022 edition, nine Eastern European countries have been invited to parade, leading the troops on foot, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary , Romania and Bulgaria. The rest of the 4,925 men and women will then march on foot.

The Jaguar reconnaissance armored vehicle marched for the first time, alongside the new generation Griffon armored vehicle, which is gradually replacing the Forward Armored Vehicle (VAB) in the land forces. The old Alouette light helicopter and the Mirage 2000C air defense plane have bowed out in the Parisian sky.

The show ended with the music of the song France, performed by the artist and reservist Candice Parise, candidate for the show The Voice in 2017.

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Gabriel MIHAI

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