Most of the countries in Europe celebrate this Monday, May 8, the 78th anniversary of Victory Day over Nazism, a day of celebration to which Ukraine has joined, which until now celebrated it on the 9th, like Russia. It is the second year that the day of the end of World War II is commemorated with a new war in Europe.
kyiv has confirmed that, to disconnect even more from the invading Russia, it will also join the celebration a day earlier, like the rest of Europeans. In a message, the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelensky, has said that "Russia will be defeated in the current conflict, just as Nazi Germany was defeated in World War II."
"We fought then and we fight now, so that no one ever again enslaves other nations (...) All the evils that this Russia is bringing back will be defeated, as Nazism was," said the Ukrainian president.
On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in the Berlin Chancellery, but there are troops who continue to fight for a few days. For this reason, it is on the night of May 8 when the Nazis sign the surrender, and on the 9th in Moscow, due to the time zone. kyiv, which has always celebrated Victory Day with Russia, was the territory with the highest death toll in World War II.
France is one of the countries that most commemorates this day. The president, Emmanuel Macron, presided over a first ceremony this morning in Paris, and this afternoon he will hold another in Lyon. The French head of state has toured a practically deserted Champs Elysées in an armored car, due to the strong security device that has been put in place.
The French president has been suffering casseroles and boos for weeks at each displacement, after the promulgation of the controversial pension reform, which has caused the greatest social crisis in decades. To avoid protests on a day like today, access to the well-known avenue had been prohibited.
As the traditional ceremony marks, Macron has deposited a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier, in the Arc de Triomphe, and has rekindled the flame. The French president will go to Lyon that midday, where demonstrations have also been prohibited. There he "will pay homage to the French resistance and the victims of Nazi barbarism," says the Élysée, and will also remember Jean Moulin, one of its leaders. He will visit the prison where he was held by the Gestapo.
Other European countries have also commemorated this historic milestone. "Today we live in freedom because others fought for our freedom. That May 8 was a day of liberation for Germany and Europe remains our immense luck," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Twitter.
In Germany, a court has authorized the display of Russian flags at the Soviet Army Memorial in the Tiergarten on May 9. The Berlin police, which had banned both the Russian and Ukrainian ones on Tuesday, has said on Twitter that it will file an appeal to prevent it. The United Kingdom will not celebrate big this time, because it comes from crowning the King, Carlos III, while Italy commemorates this day on April 25.
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