In pictures: Bastille Day celebrations in France
Some 4,300 soldiers, around 200 vehicles and more than 100 aircraft took part in the parade
PHOTO: REUTERS
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, one of the key events of the French Revolution. The day has become a national holiday in France.
Some 4,300 soldiers, around 200 vehicles and more than 100 aircraft, some from other European countries, took part in the parade that was opened by Spanish troops.
The attractions included drones, miniature autonomous vehicles, soldiers armed with anti-drone guns, and what looked like a “flying soldier” - a man swishing in the air on a flyboard, drawing cheers from the leaders and spectators.
In a Bastille Day message to the French people published before the parade, Macron said he wanted to highlight France’s irrevocable commitment to consolidate French and European security.
“Acting together and strengthening our ability to act collectively is one of the challenges that the European Intervention Initiative, along with other key European projects, wants to address,” he added.
Some 4,300 soldiers, around 200 vehicles and more than 100 aircraft, some from other European countries, took part in the parade that was opened by Spanish troops.
The attractions included drones, miniature autonomous vehicles, soldiers armed with anti-drone guns, and what looked like a “flying soldier” - a man swishing in the air on a flyboard, drawing cheers from the leaders and spectators.
In a Bastille Day message to the French people published before the parade, Macron said he wanted to highlight France’s irrevocable commitment to consolidate French and European security.
“Acting together and strengthening our ability to act collectively is one of the challenges that the European Intervention Initiative, along with other key European projects, wants to address,” he added.