Sarkozy, Cameron mark de Gaulle war broadcast
LONDON. June 19. KAZINFORM French President Nicolas Sarkozy marked the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's defiant World War II broadcast from London on Friday, visiting the studio where the leader urged his compatriots to resist the German occupation; Kazinform refers to The Arab News.
Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, traveled to Britain and toured Broadcasting House, the British Broadcasting Corp. complex in central London where UK officials initially refused de Gaulle's request to air his appeal, but relented after the intervention of British wartime leader Winston Churchill.
The visit comes at a time when Europe is wrestling with economic rather than military challenges, and it offers a further chance for the French president and Prime Minister David Cameron, who took office last month, to strengthen ties.
"We come as friends, and friends who remember the past and what France owes you," Sarkozy told an audience of about 1,500 veterans and dignitaries at London's Royal Hospital Chelsea, a hospital and retirement center for ex-soldiers.
Amid pomp and ceremony, Sarkozy bestowed the French Legion d'Honneur on six World War II veterans - three British and three French.
British and French jets made a ceremonial fly-past through London's cloudy skies, while red-jacketed veterans and guards in plumed helmets mingled with dignitaries. Soldiers from both countries formed a joint guard of honor.
"Britain and France will be true to those who died for them in the skies above London, in the Libyan desert, on the Normandy beaches and the plain of Alsace, when all that we hold most dear was threatened with annihilation," Sarkozy told veterans who attended the ceremony. He spoke in French.
Sarkozy and Cameron said commemorations of the past must be matched by strong ties between their two governments on present challenges, including Europe's financial crisis and climate change.
The fallen will be honored "by taking on together the defense of freedom and democracy everywhere in the world," Sarkozy said.
Cameron, who made his first overseas visit as British leader to Paris, greeted Sarkozy warmly before a private lunch with their wives at the prime minister's official residence in London; Kazinform cites The Arab News.
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