Britain’s King Charles III has called for prayers that the enormous loss of life suffered by opponents of fascism during the Second World War will never be necessary again. He stated this while delivering a speech in the French commune of Vers-sur-Mer to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the landing of Allied troops in Normandy.
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“Among those whose names are carved on the walls and columns of the memorial in Normandy [to the 22,400 killed during the Allied landings in France and the subsequent liberation of the country], men and women from more than 30 countries, professing different religions. United, they fought together for what my grandfather King George VI called a world in which kindness and honor would be the basis of life for the people of all countries. Standing with their remaining friends and comrades on this hallowed ground, let us repeat the pledge to live by their covenants, to pray for tha, so that such sacrifices are never needed again, and continue to carry forward the bright example they set, strengthened by a sense of duty, of courage and perseverance in the struggle for freedom for the sake of young and as yet unborn generations,” the king said, expressing “eternal gratitude” to the fighters against fascism.
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Commemorative events dedicated to the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, which meant the opening of a second front in Western Europe, are held with the participation of foreign heads of state and veterans every five years. Russia was not invited to this year’s ceremony. At the same time, an invitation was sent to President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky.
