“We will not bow to dictators”

The president of United States, Joe Bidenhas promised this Thursday to continue defending Ukraine to prevent it from falling under the Russian yoke and has warned that “democracy is more threatened than ever”.

This was announced in a speech at the American cemetery in the French town of Colleville sur Mer, within the framework of 80th anniversary commemoration ceremonies of the Normandy landings. A celebration attended by the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, but not by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who was not invited due to his aggression against the neighboring country.

“We cannot bow down to dictators,” declared the US president. And he added that, if it were done, it would be a way to forget what happened eight decades ago, when the allies managed to free Europe from the Nazi regime. “We are ready to stand up against tyranny, to defend democracy and freedom? The answer can only be yes,” she noted, after stressing that giving in to bullies “is unthinkable.”

“We will not turn our backs on Ukraine. If we turn our backs on it, Ukraine will fall under the Russian yoke and then Europe will also fall,” Biden said in statements reported by Efe. Likewise, he has recalled what happened on the beaches of Normandy that June 6, 1944, when, he detailed, “we proved that freedom is stronger than tyranny” and also the value of “the faultless unity of the allies.”

Along these lines, Biden has made a parallel between what happened 80 years ago and the current situation by pointing out that NATO, with the recent expansion to Finland and Sweden, now has 32 members and “is more united than ever”. He has also reiterated his country’s willingness to engage in that and other alliances by noting that “the United States’ unique ability to unite nations is one of our greatest strengths.”“Isolationism,” he added, “is not the answer. It was not the answer 80 years ago and it is not the answer now.”

Alluding to the battles that took place in Normandy 80 years ago, he concluded: “Those who left their lives here saved the world. We must live up to their sacrifice.”

Ceremony in Colleville sur Mer

In this ceremony at the American military cemetery of Colleville sur Mer, where the graves of more than 9,300 fallen soldiers In that campaign, nearly 200 World War II veterans from the United States, including some women, were guests of honor.

The vast majority They were in a wheelchair due to their very advanced age (very close to or over one hundred years old), although a few walked proudly. Due to their age, it is very likely that this will be the last important anniversary they attend.

The French president, Emmanuel Macronawarded eleven of them with the Legion of Honor, France’s highest official distinction, for their contribution to the liberation of France in 1944 and 1945.

Illustrious guests also attended, such as the former Secretary of State, John Kerry, who was decorated several times in the Vietnam War; or Tom Hanks, protagonist of the film Saving Private Ryan (1998), set in the Normandy landings and its subsequent days, and which begins and ends in this cemetery. Likewise, there were also veterans of more recent conflicts and relatives of combatants in Normandy, Efe reports.

Omaha Beach, one of the five where the Allied troops landed 80 years ago today, and one of the two American beaches, was the scene of the bloodiest fighting that day. American troops suffered between 5,000 and 6,000 casualties including dead, wounded and missing, the vast majority in the first waves. That is why it was known as Omaha the bloody.