PARIS - The war in Ukraine has even shaken up Bastille Day, a powerful political, historical and symbolic event in France.France celebrated its national holiday Thursday with thousands of French troops marching down the Champs-Elysees avenue alongside allies from Eastern Europe.
The traditional parade also featured warplanes, military vehicles and a drone in a performance showing off France's might and its military efforts to support Ukraine.The opening of this year's Bastille Day parade was designed to demonstrate France’s commitment to NATO and to European allies touched most closely by the war in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine 20 weeks ago.Troops from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary were assigned the front position, bearing their national flags.
Multinational troops deployed in Romania after the invasion marched after them.Higher-than-usual temperatures baking Paris this week didn't deter crowds from gathering to watch the parade, surrounded by tight security along the Champs-Elysees.TOPSHOT - French elite acrobatic flying team "Patrouille de France" (PAF) releases smoke in the colors of the French flag as they perform a fly-over during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on July 14, 2022. (Phot A group of young people from France's universal national service program stood up and applauded as the parade got underway, visibly thrilled to be watching the event in person.