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France Holds Annual National Day Parade on Champs-Elysee
France held the annual national day military parade in Paris Friday morning with the participation of soldiers and combat aircraft from eight other European Union (EU) states.
French President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin and several thousand mayors from cities and towns from across France inspected the parade.
Tens of thousands of Parisians and tourists also watched the show on the Champs-Elysee boulevard in central Paris.
The parade started with the passing of several dozen soldiers from EU countries representing the Eurocorps, the European Ground Force, the European Marine Force and the European Air Group, which are the primary units of a planned European Rapid Reaction Force in future.
The combat aircraft from Germany, Britain, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain also joined their French counterparts in whirling across the cloudy sky of Paris.
Small groups of soldiers from these countries as well as from Portugal and Luxembourg also joined the military procession.
Some heavy strategic armored cars carrying missile-launchers were among the 320 military vehicles which showed up during the 90-minute parade.
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