PARIS (AP) - France said it has asked German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to attend June commemorations of the D-Day invasion, a historic invitation that shows the two former enemies are healing old wounds. Schroeder was very pleased and has accepted, a spokesman from his office said Thursday.
For the 60th anniversary commemoration, France also invited leaders of World War II’s Allied nations, including President Bush. Schroeder is to be the first German leader to mark an anniversary of the Normandy landings. Ten years ago, Chancellor Helmut Kohl was not invited to the 50th anniversary ceremony - a decision that caused sore feelings in Germany and soured relations with France.
French-German ties got a boost in January 2003, when the neighbors marked 40 years of reconciliation, turning a page on their warring past and pledging to work together at the heart of the European Union.
``Operation Overlord,’’ the code name for the landings, will be marked with a ceremony at Arromanches, a Normandy town between two of the beaches where soldiers came ashore.
I don’t have any problems with this -- hell, invite him, why not? I’m certainly going to enjoy Bush’s speech on that day, I’m sure he’ll rise to the occasion. |