It is a traditional meeting for French presidents. Friday August 19, 2022, Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, as always at the forefront of elegance in slim jeans and a white blazer, took part in the ceremony for the 78th anniversary of the liberation of Bormes-les-Mimosas (17 August 1944). About 500 people came to meet the president, who participated for the fifth time since 2018 in the ceremony commemorating the release of Bormes.
After the traditional wreath laying and the Marseillaise, the Head of State and his wife took part in the walkabout ritual, canceled in 2021 due to Covid-19, shaking hands and posing for selfies. Among the spectators, a man unfurled a Ukrainian flag. A little girl, treated for cancer at the Marseille Timone hospital, sent the president a message from caregivers who lack equipment, reports AFP.
Earlier in the day, the Head of State took the floor to to denounce the war waged by Russia against Ukraine. He also called on the French to “agree to pay the price of freedom“, while the conflict is likely to have serious economic consequences in Europe. “I’m thinking of our people, who will need the strength of soul to look the times ahead in the face, to resist uncertainties, sometimes to ease and adversity, and, united, agree to pay the price for our freedom and our values“, launched the head of state.
In “this war that thunders at our doors“, Emmanuel Macron hailed the “heroic resistance“of the Ukrainian people in the face of”terrible assaults by the Russian army and its auxiliaries“.
The Macron couple, currently on vacation at Fort Brégançon in the town of Bormes-les-Mimosas since July 29, are therefore taking advantage of the last days of rest, and canoe trips, before a return to school which promises, as always, charged.