On 6 June 2019, the official international ceremony on the French coast of Normandy will mark the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy landings (D-Day). The ceremony will be attended by many Allied Heads of State. However, France did not invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend this important anniversary.
It is worth noting that Putin did not attend even the June 5 ceremony, which took place in the English port city of Portsmouth. However, many world leaders were invited to the 75th anniversary ceremony in Portsmouth, among them US President Donald Trump, Prime Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Also attending the ceremony were British Queen Elizabeth and UK Prime Minister Theresa May.
Russian blogger El Murid commented that Putin's exclusion comes as no surprise, when even the Kremlin disassociates itself from the Soviet Union, which won WWII.
Below is El Murid's comment:
Source: Dday-anniversary.com)
"Putin was not invited to the Normandy landings anniversary. Frankly speaking, this is no surprise. The current regime distances itself so thoroughly from the Soviet Union, and Putin speaks so dismissively about it (take, for instance, his statement about galoshes),[1] that inevitably a question needs to be raised: how the hell are those events and those victors related to you [Putin]?
"According to the current legend, it was not the Soviet Union, but some 'historical Russia' that defeated fascism. No doubt that the winners, if they were still alive, would have been greatly surprised.
"The camouflaged [Lenin's] mausoleum, which the current [leaders] get seizure fits about climbing, was mentioned many times. By the way, the last time it was camouflaged was precisely during the war — so it could be saved from the bombing. It is hard to say why it is being camouflaged now. Probably, [it is done to save it] from the people.[2]
In the photo, the Lenin mausoleum is hidden behind Victory Day banners. (Source: Periskop.livejournal.com)
"So, this is really quite fitting and there nothing to argue about. Yes, it is unpleasant, but at the same time appropriate. All the more so when we agree to tolerate insults to our ancestors' memory by some riffraff who now consider themselves the rightful owners of the country they had stolen from the people. What then can we demand of foreigners? They are not the types to take a dump on their history."
[1] On May 8, 2012, Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the candidacy of Dmitry Medvedev for approval by State Duma deputies as Russia’s new prime minister. During that occasion, commenting on the Soviet Union, Putin said: "Yes, my friends, yes. There is no point to argue. The fact of the matter is that we did not produce anything that people actually demanded (and there’s no need to wave your hands about). No one bought the galoshes we produced except in Africa, to wear them in the hot sand. That is the whole problem." Kremlin.ru, May 8, 2012; See also the video.
[2] During WWII, the Mausoleum was camouflaged as a regular apartment building on the Red Square in order to avoid German aerial bombings. Now, it's camouflaged by banners to create a background, since Putin delivers his speech in front of the Mausoleum.
During the Soviet Era, all the leaders would stand on the Mausoleum's front balcony. In modern Russia no leader climbed the mausoleum or stood on the balcony during parades, since no one wanted to be associated with Secretary General of the Communist Party. In the text, El Murid emphasized the fact that the current Russian leadership is afraid of any link between it and the Soviet leadership, while striving to demonstrate that "historical Russia" and not the Soviet Union won WWII.
In a comment, published on April 4, 2019, the Russian blog Periskop noted that the color red was not used in the Victory Day banner covering the Mausoleum (see above). Periskop then stressed that on the banner appears the neutral word "Победа" ("Victory"), without specifying whose victory, and which State won.
See article: https://periskop.livejournal.com/1955112.html
