Paris: Dozens of leaders from around the globe on Sunday converged in Paris to attend a portentous ceremony commemorating 100 years since the armistice that put an end to the brutal conflict now known as World War I.
Some 70 heads of State and government were among the guests of an event hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, who gave a solemn speech exalting the millions of young men who were tragically killed fighting in the Great World War I and criticized what he identified as the root of the global-scale bloodbath, the ideology of nationalism, reports Efe news.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism,” Macron said. “Nationalism betrays it.”
“Old demons are resurfacing. History sometimes threatens to take its tragic course again and compromise our hope of peace. Let us vow to prioritize peace over everything,” the French leader added, in what appeared to be a reference to the surge of far-right nationalist parties and movements across Europe and elsewhere in the world.
Before Macron’s speech, the world leaders walked side-by-side under an unforgiving downpour towards the iconic Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Élysées avenue while the bells of the French capital’s churches tolled to mark the exact time the 1918 ceasefire went into effect, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. (IANS)
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