They laid a wreath, accompanied by four German and French children, and walked side by side for few minutes in the cemetery, sharing an umbrella.Īfter lunch, they were visiting the newly renovated Verdun Memorial. In the morning, he welcomed his German counterpart under heavy rain at the German cemetery of Consenvoye, near Verdun, where 11,148 German soldiers are buried. Hollande and Merkel spent the entire day together. He also noted the threat from violent extremism, saying the EU "must protect the people,'' especially against "terrorism.'' at a moment when Europe is affected by the disease of populism,'' he told France Culture radio this week. "In a world with global challenges, it is important to keep developing this Europe,'' she said in a weekly address Saturday, expressing hope that Britain would not vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.Īmid rising support for far right parties and divisions among European countries over how to handle refugees, Hollande said he wants to work alongside Merkel to "relaunch the European ideal.'' Merkel said the commemorations show "how good relations between Germany and France are today'' and the achievements of European unity. "Verdun is a city that represents - at the same time - the worst, where Europe got lost, and the best, a city being able to commit and unite for peace and French-German friendship,'' he said. Hollande praised the city of Verdun as "the capital of peace.'' "We are all called upon to keep awake the memory in the future, because only those who know the past can draw lessons from it,'' the German leader said. "Verdun is the more than the name of your town - Verdun is also one of the most terrible battles humanity has experienced,'' Merkel said in a speech at city hall, calling Hollande's invitation to join the centenary "a great honor.'' Some 4,000 French and German children were taking part in the day's events, which conclude at a mass grave where, in 1984, then-French President Francois Mitterrand took then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's hand in a breakthrough moment of friendship and trust by longtime enemy nations. ![]() With no survivors left to remember, Sunday's commemorations were focused on educating youth about the horrors and consequences of the war. The battlefield zone still holds millions of unexploded shells, making the area so dangerous that housing and farming are still forbidden. The front line villages destroyed in the fighting were never rebuilt. The 10-month battle at Verdun - the longest in World War I - killed 163,000 French and 143,000 German soldiers and wounded hundreds of thousands of others.īetween February and December 1916, an estimated 60 million shells were fired in the battle. ![]() In solemn ceremonies Sunday in the forests of eastern France, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked 100 years since the Battle of Verdun, determined to show that, despite the bloodbath of World War I, their countries' improbable friendship is now a source of hope for today's fractured Europe.
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