Virus lockdowns mute VE Day commemorations
European leaders held muted commemorations Friday to mark the end of World War II on the continent, as coronavirus lockdowns kept crowds from celebrating VE Day.
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The European celebrations came in stark contrast to the way millions of its citizens spilled onto the streets 75 years ago, waving flags, flashing victory signs and dancing in joy because the carnage on their continent had ended.
Street parties this year were banned in Britain. In France, President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe monument at the top of a largely deserted Champs-Elysees Avenue because the country is still under a strict lockdown until Monday.
A day earlier, Macron spoke to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who had to cancel his own huge Victory Day parade that had been planned for Saturday in Moscow. Macron said the pandemic “makes the construction of peace and stability on the continent and in the rest of the world more necessary than ever,” according to a statement.
With nearly 26,000 confirmed virus deaths, France is among the world’s top five hardest-hit nations in the pandemic. Britain, with more than 30,000 confirmed deaths, is second only to the U.S., which has seen nearly 76,000 people killed by the virus. Russia has reported only 1,625 virus deaths, but infections are jumping by more than 10,000 each day. Experts believe all those figures — especially the Russian death toll — understate the true impact of the coronavirus.
In Germany, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the parliament and top court laid wreaths at the memorial to victims of war and violence in Berlin.
“The corona pandemic is forcing us to commemorate alone — apart from those who are important to us and to whom we are grateful,” Steinmeier said. He urged Germans to “think, feel and act as Europeans” amid the coronavirus crisis.
