europe warns against demons of nationalism
WorlD leaDers mark 100th anniversary of enD of first WorlD War
paris — French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Antonio Guterres took turns in warning about the dangers of nationalism on Sunday as they marked the centenary of the end of World War I.
Without mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, all three of them railed against his world view and the dangers of disregarding international norms as they spoke at the start of the Paris Peace Forum on Sunday. “The concern I have is that blinkered nationalist views may gain ground once again,” Merkel told fellow leaders gathered at the forum.
She also warned that such attitudes meant “the peaceful balancing of interests, even the European peace project — people are calling them into question again”.
She also criticised the idea of isolationism, which she said “wasn’t the right solution more than 100 years ago. How can it be the right solution today?” She added: “We know that most of the challenges and threats of today can no longer be solved by one nation alone, but only if we act together.”
Trump, who attended a WWI memorial service in Paris earlier in the day but snubbed the peace conference, is a proud nationalist who has made ‘America First’ his political slogan.
Macron gave short opening remarks at the forum that were similarly downbeat. “The old demons are rising again, ready to complete their task of chaos and of death,” Macron said.
“Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” he said.
“In saying ‘Our interests first, whatever happens to the others’, you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.” —
World leaders gathered in Paris on Sunday to mark 100 years since the end of World War I, with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Antonio Guterres each warning that rising nationalism again poses a threat to peace.
US President Donald Trump — who prides himself on being called a nationalist — was among around 70 leaders to attend a solemn ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in the driving rain.
But neither he nor Russian President Vladimir Putin joined other leaders in a symbolic walk up the Champs-Elysees to the monument.
Three topless protesters from radical feminist movement Femen were arrested trying to reach Trump’s motorcade, although French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said his security had “in no way been threatened”.
Paris, the site of repeated jihadist attacks since 2015, had mobilised some 10,000 police for an event also attended by Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
After church bells rang out across France at 11am — exactly a century after the signing of the Armistice — leaders gathered for a ceremony which included a cello performance and readings from letters written by World War I soldiers.
Macron delivered a stinging indictment of nationalism in a 20-minute speech and called on leaders to learn the lessons of the past.
“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” he said.
“By saying our interests come first and others don’t matter we are erasing what makes a nation precious, what makes it live, what makes it great and most importantly of all, its moral values.”
He warned that to dash hopes for peace through “isolation, violence or domination” would “be a mistake for which future generations would rightly find us responsible”.
The service concluded with the bugle call that was played at 11.00 am on November 11, 1918 to signal the end of fighting on the Western Front.
Throughout his tour of the Great War battlefields this week, Macron has repeated his warnings that the “nationalist disease” threatens to drag Europe back to the fateful divisions of the 1930s. He has portrayed next year’s European parliamentary elections as a reckoning between him and the populist, nationalist forces on the ascendancy around the continent.
Trump thanked Macron in a tweet for the “beautiful ceremony” before heading to the US military
Patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism: Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. In saying ‘our interests first, whatever happens to the others,’ you erase the most precious thing a nation can have, that which makes it live, that which causes it to be great and that which is most important: Its moral values.
There are many parallels with both the start of the twentieth century and the 1930s, giving us grounds to fear that an unpredictable chain of events could ensue.
The world must not simply stand by and watch as more conflicts continue to unfold around the world. Isolationism didn’t work 100 years ago, how could it work in today’s interconnected world. Angela Merkel, German Chancellor
Emmanuel Macron, French President
Antonio Guterres, UN chief
cemetery at Suresnes, west of Paris to pay tribute to America’s war dead.
Ceremonies in New Zealand, Australia, India, Hong Kong and Myanmar had launched a day of remembrance services for a conflict that involved millions of troops from colonised countries in Asia and Africa. “This was a war in which India was not directly involved yet our soldiers fought world over, just for the cause of peace,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter.
“For our tomorrows, they gave their today,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told people gathered at a ceremony in Canberra.
In London, Prince Charles laid the first wreath of red poppies, Britain’s emblem of remembrance, at the nation’s annual commemo-
ration ceremony on behalf of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, who watched from a nearby balcony.
German President FrankWalter Steinmeier became the first German leader to take part in the service, which was also attended by Prime Minister Theresa May.
After the ceremony, Merkel and UN Secretary-General Guterres gave the opening speeches at a new peace forum in Paris set up by Macron — with both warning that rising nationalism threatens the rules-based international order.
“The concern I have is that blinkered nationalist views may gain ground once again,” Merkel said, warning that people were calling the “European peace project” into question.
Guterres warned of “many parallels with both the start of the twentieth century and the 1930s,
giving us grounds to fear that an unpredictable chain of events could ensue”.
The earlier show of unity at the Arc de Triomphe comes at a time of growing tensions between liberals and populists in the Eurpean Union, as well as between Europe and the United States, two years into Trump’s “America First” presidency. Around 1,500 anti-Trump protesters held a demonstration at Republique square in eastern Paris on Sunday, at which the giant “Baby Blimp” balloon depicting Trump as an infant was flown, following previous appearances in London and New York.
“Mr Hate, Leave Europe,” read one banner at the protest. Trump had snubbed the Peace Forum, instead visiting a military cemetery in the Paris suburbs, a day after coming under heavy fire for cancelling a similar trip due to rain. —