London: French President Nicolas Sarkozy marked the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's defiant Second World War broadcast from London yesterday, visiting the studio where the leader urged his compatriots to resist the German occupation.
Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, travelled to Britain and toured Broadcasting House, the British Broadcasting Corp. complex in central London where UK officials initially refued de Gaulle's request to air his appeal, but relented after the intervention of British wartime leader Winston Churchill.
The visit comes at a time when Europe is wrestling with economic rather than military challenges, and it offers a further chance for the French president and Prime Minister David Cameron, who took office last month, to strengthen ties.
"We come as friends, and friends who remember the past and what France owes you," Sarkozy told an audience of about 1,500 veterans and dignitaries at London's Royal Hospital Chelsea, a hospital and retirement centre for ex-soldiers.
Amid pomp and ceremony, Sarkozy bestowed the French Legion d'Honneur on six Second World War veterans — three British and three French.
British and French jets made a ceremonial fly-past through London's cloudy skies, while red jacketed veterans and guards in plumed helmets mingled with dignitaries. Soldiers from both countries formed a joint guard of honour.
"Britain and France will be true to those who died for them in the skies above London, in the Libyan desert, on the Normandy beaches and the plain of Alsace, when all that we hold most dear was threatened with annihilation," Sarkozy told veterans who attended the ceremony. He spoke in French.
Sarkozy and Cameron said commemorations of the past must be matched by strong ties between their two governments on present challenges, including Europe's financial crisis and climate change.
The fallen will be honoured "by taking on together the defence of freedom and democracy everywhere in the world," Sarkozy said.
Cameron, who made his first overseas visit as British leader to Paris, greeted Sarkozy warmly before a private lunch with their wives at the prime minister's official residence in London.
"The bravery we celebrate today is not just a thing of the past, it is present every day," said Cameron, praising the effort of British and French troops in Afghanistan.
