80 years after the Normandy landings, security fears stalk Europe

The commemoration of the Normandy landings began this Wednesday in the Breton town of Plumelec, in western France, with a first tribute to the resisters and paratroopers of Free France. Precisely, the most illustrious guests of the ceremonies will be the relatives of the civilian victims and some 200 veterans from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada still alive, since, due to their advanced age, this could become their last great anniversary .

The remembrance of this anniversary has always had a special place in the West. For the Allies, this titanic landing eight decades ago contributed decisively to the beginning of the liberation of France and northwest Europe from the Nazi occupation under Adolf Hitler. At the end of that first day on June 6, 1944, the allies had secured a strategic bridge in France that would later allow them to have a platform for a direct attack on the heart of Germany, but at the price of some 10,000 casualties, including deaths. and injured.

After almost three months of hard fighting in the region, the Battle of Normandy ended in Falaise, on August 21, with a resounding Nazi defeat, but also with more than 20,000 civilian deaths. From there, the Allies launched a rapid race towards the German border, and the liberation of Paris came just four days later, leaving Hitler trapped between two combat fronts – in the east were the troops of the Soviet Union – , which would end up precipitating its fall in May 1945, marking the beginning of the end for the Axis powers.

The echoes of the feat still resonate to this day. In fact, this Thursday the traditional international ceremony takes place in Colleville-sur-Mer, with the presence of some 25 heads of State and Government from Europe and North America. In addition to the presidents of France and the United States, Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden; the leaders of Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic; The heads of government of Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Luxembourg, and the kings of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg are among those attending.

And in addition to keeping alive a key episode in the history of humanity, this commemoration has an international political overtone when compared to the 75th anniversary, in 2019, and other previous celebrations, since for the first time Russia was not invited (as heir to the Soviet Union), but yes to Ukraine, which marks these 80 years of anniversary under the shadow of the invasion and injects it with great symbolism at a time when the Old Continent once again has a conflict in its territory.

“Although the Soviet Union played an important role in the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Russian invasion of Ukraine politically disqualifies the Russian leadership from participating in the D-Day commemoration. In fact, there is currently virtually no high-level contact level between the Russian leaders and their NATO counterparts,” he explained to EL TIEMPO. Charles Kupchansenior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), on what Russia’s absence from these events means in practice

Because during these last 80 years, Russia had always had a space reserved for these activities, which it had always attended due to the high price that the USSR paid in the final victory of World War II (27 million civilian and military deaths). . Not even the previous disagreements that Europe had had with Putin had led it to exclude him.

Not only President Putin was declared a person non gratabut France also backtracked on its initial idea of ​​inviting a Russian representative to the ceremonies. “There will be no Russian delegation. The conditions are not met, due to the war of aggression that Russia is waging against Ukraine and which has intensified even more in recent weeks,” the French presidency indicated.

Even on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the landing, in 2014, Putin was invited, despite the fact that Russia annexed the then Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea three months earlier, and also his then Ukrainian counterpart, Petro Poroshenko.

For this reason, these three days in which the Normandy landings are commemorated are filled with an unusual atmosphere. Especially because Western leaders will take the opportunity to once again express their support for kyiv’s resistance to Moscow.

It is also expected that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyaccompany allied leaders at the commemorations and then hold several meetings with their counterparts – including Biden – to discuss the minutiae of the war.

For Macron himself, host of the event, the Russian invasion represents an existential threat to Europe. The French president hopes that the commemoration of the Allied landing will also serve to reinforce the support for Zelensky.

“When war has returned to the continent 80 years after the liberation of Europe,” Macron and Biden “will discuss the unwavering and long-term support that must be given to Ukraine,” according to the French Presidency.

These calls have become more relevant, especially because the Ukrainian army is not having a good time and Russia is, little by little, gaining ground. The lack of reservists, the slow arrival of new supplies and the air superiority of the enemy forces explain the reasons behind the bad times that kyiv is experiencing these weeks on the battlefield.

Faced with this difficult scenario, Zelensky has asked his allies to allow him to use the weapons they send him to attack directly on Russian territory, an issue that until now was a red line that Westerners did not dare to cross to avoid an escalation with Moscow.

Now him United Kingdom, Poland, Finland, France, Canada and more recently the United States turned a new leaf on this taboo subject. Already this week, the Ukrainian army used the weapons given to it by the allies to directly attack the Russian oblast of Belgorod and destroy an anti-aircraft system of its rival army.

Given this scenario, Putin had threatened Europe days before with “serious consequences” if the NATO countries allowed the use of their weapons to directly attack Russian soil.. “This constant escalation can have serious consequences, and if these serious consequences are felt in Europe, how will the United States react?” said Putin, who alluded to nuclear parity between both superpowers. However, Putin yesterday called a possible Russian attack against NATO countries “nonsense” due to the great difference in their military potential.

In any case, the fears remain latent. This change in the allies’ discourse is due to the fact that Russia has been achieving strategic conquests on the battle front and the Europeans and members of NATO want at all costs to prevent the Ukrainian Government from falling. In fact, some Eastern European countries are already beginning to take security
measures.

At the end of April, the six NATO countries bordering Russia announced that they will build “a wall of drones” to prevent “provocations” on the border, according to the Lithuanian Government. The project was developed due to increased concerns about security issues since the beginning of the invasion. Because of the 32 members of the Atlantic Alliance, six have borders with Russia: the three Baltic States, as well as Finland, Norway and Poland.

For analysts, The chances of a broader war between NATO and Russia remain low. However, country leaders maintain some concern about this, as is the case with Macron.

“So far, both NATO members and Russia have been careful to avoid direct hostilities, one of the reasons why NATO members have refrained from deploying troops on the ground in Ukraine. However, Russian aggression has led to a full-scale war in Ukraine, and the risk of escalation to a broader war, whether by accident or intentionally, will be present until the war ends,” Kupchan added.

Thus, what happened in Normandy 80 years ago is proof that the world wants to keep the memory alive to prevent a major conflict from happening again, especially when today most European countries see that the Russians threaten their stability. regional.

Pope Francis himself expressed it yesterday and called to avoid a new conflict on a global scale at all costs: “If for decades the memory of past errors supported the firm desire to do everything possible to avoid a new open world conflict, I note with sadness that today it is no longer the same and that men have a short memory,” the Supreme Pontiff remarked. .