In Paris, Bastille Day goes global, hosts troops from 27 EU nations
July 16, 2008
France national holilday celebrated for the first time by other EU nations and attended by middle eastern heads of state
When French President Nicolas Sarkozy down the Champs-Elysees on Saturday for his first Bastille Day as leader of France, it wasn’t the only first. He was followed in the parade by troops from all 27 European Union nations. Sarkozy has expressed strong support for a more united European military, so he used the holiday usually meant to celebrate the revolution that rid France of its monarchy to make a statement that goes far beyond the borders of France.
Perhaps aware of possible misinterpretations of the gesture, Sarkozy declared, “It was a parade of armies but it is peace that we want to celebrate,” referring to this year’s 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, which laid the groundwork for the European Union.
Sarkozy had company to view the parade from the dais: Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission; EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana; and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.
More controversially, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, whose son was marching as a graduate of an elite French military academy, also stood near Sarkozy reviewing the parade, as well as President Bashar al-Assad of Syria . Assad was sitting only steps away from Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, even though their countries at war. The leaders had been part of a Mediterranean summit held by Sarkozy on Sunday.
Sarkozy’s other breaks with Bastille Day tradition included pulling the plug on the usual mass pardon of petty criminals. Bastille Day gets its name from the destruction of the infamous Bastille prison during the French Revolution. Pardons for minor offenses on Bastille Day is a practice that aided in prison overcrowding while commemorating the holiday, but Sarkozy, known for his hard line on crime, would have none of it. He did authorize a huge free open-air concert for Saturday night, a new Bastille Day tradition he hopes will cement the day as “the people’s holiday.” Bands from France and Germany played, in antoehr gesture of EU solidarity.
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