Ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II are being held across the continent.
The newly elected German Chancellor Freidrich Merz will join a wreath-laying ceremony in Berlin. The Bundestag will hold its own remembrance service too.
Events are planned in Paris and London, commemorating the defeat of the Nazis.
Despite widespread acknowledgement across Europe that May 8 is a day to celebrate an unprecedented phase of peace and freedom across the continent, today’s reality continues to cast a long shadow of gloom.
As Russia’s relentless assault on Ukraine drags well into its fourth year and Europe is forced to massively boost defense spending in the face of Moscow’s aggression, European leaders continue to sound the alarm.
Among those emphasizing the dire situation is European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who on Wednesday told EU lawmakers: “Once again war has returned to our continent, once again cities are being bombed, civilians attacked, families torn apart. The people of Ukraine are fighting not only for their land, but for freedom, for sovereignty, for democracy, just as our parents and our grandparents once did.”
“The task before us today,” she said, “is the same as it was then, to honor memory, to protect democracy, to preserve peace.”
As Europe marks VE day, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has warned against complacency. “The idea that this was all just history and it doesn’t matter now somehow, is completely wrong,” he said, “Those values of freedom and democracy matter today.”
The UK will mark the occasion with services at Westminster Abbey — attended by King Charles III and his wife Camilla — to be followed by a minute of silence across the kingdom. A major concert at Horse Guards Parade will be staged for 10,000 members of the public later in the evening.
In Scotland, a convoy of Norwegian fishing boats is travelling to Shetland to commemorate the “Shetland Bus” operation that rescued many refugees during the war.
Northern Ireland is marking VE Day with a series of events, including a tea dance at Belfast City Hall, and displaying a replica Spitfire throughout the day.
In Wales, a poppy cascade made from 1,000 individual flowers has been knitted by the Steel Magnolias Women’s Institute. The cascade is being displayed outside the veterans’ hub in Connah’s Quay.
Ally France will also mark the day with President Emmanuel Macron attending a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Paris’ Arc de Triomphe.
Germany’s new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Thursday underscored Germany’s debt of gratitude to Allied forces as well as the country’s responsibility to defend its hard-won freedom in Europe.
Wadephul said, “No day has shaped our history like May 8, 1945,” adding that it was the beginning of an “unprecedented phase of peace” in Europe.
While acknowledging that freedom was slow coming for many in Europe, Wadephul said, “Our freedom was the result of the enormous sacrifices of the Allied forces. For that, we are forever grateful.”
Wadephul went on to say, “the historic responsibility for this betrayal of civilization and the memory of the millions of victims of the Second World War unleashed by Nazi Germany make it our responsibility to resolutely defend peace and freedom in Europe today.”
