The traditional military parade planned in Paris on the occasion of the national holiday will honor the countries on the eastern flank of NATO and the French troops deployed there. Emmanuel Macron will chair it in the morning on the prestigious avenue des Champs-Elysées.
“Sharing the flame” is the theme of the 2022 parade. A triple reference to the army-nation link, to the flame of the Resistance embodied by Hubert Germain, the last companion of the Liberation who died last year, and to the Olympic flame whose France is now the custodian until the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The parade on foot will be opened by the flags of 9 invited foreign countries, mostly neighbors of Russia or Ukraine: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria.
French troops recently deployed on the eastern flank of Europe will follow suit. Paris has clearly reinforced its reinsurance missions there since the beginning of the war. Some 500 French soldiers were urgently dispatched to Romania at the end of February as part of NATO and Paris is ready to increase its contingent if necessary. France is also taking part in land and air reassurance missions in Estonia and its Rafale fighter jets are helping to protect Polish skies.