Bastille Day - Europe's attempt at collective military strength | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:01Bastile Day is a big moment in the
2. 0:03French calendar. It is a celebration of
3. 0:05the country's revolution in the late
4. 0:071700s, of its values, of its culture.
5. 0:11Alongside the celebrations, it is also a
6. 0:14show of force.
7. 0:18>> You worry about how safe Europe is.
8. 0:20>> Of course,
9. 0:22>> we have a war, a land war going on in
10. 0:24Europe for the first time since the
11. 0:26Second World War. When we are doing
12. 0:29nuclear operations, we have to do that
13. 0:32with precision as well.
14. 0:38>> And this year there was plenty of
15. 0:40military muscle on display.
16. 0:43>> I'm here to see my boyfriend. It's quite
17. 0:47an honor for him and for me to be here
18. 0:49and a pleasure too because they're
19. 0:52handsome.
20. 0:53>> It's a nice view.
21. 0:54>> Yeah, absolutely.
22. 0:56This year they there is a Ukrainian
23. 0:59soldiers. So clearly it's more than just
24. 1:03a parade. It's a special day because my
25. 1:05daughter is here with military school
26. 1:09because of what what what happened in
27. 1:11other countries. Uh I know that she she
28. 1:14will have to go uh in other countries.
29. 1:20>> Do you worry about how safe Europe is?
30. 1:22>> Of course. Of course.
31. 1:51What is interesting is how open not just
32. 1:54politicians But soldiers are being as
33. 1:56well about this not just being a
34. 1:57celebration but a show of strength. Look
35. 1:59at these armored vehicles. There are a
36. 2:01third more this year than the last. It's
37. 2:04something you usually see in countries
38. 2:05like China, like North Korea where they
39. 2:07try and show their might. And in a
40. 2:09sense, this isn't much different. You
41. 2:12can add Russia to that list as well.
42. 2:14Showing off at home whilst continuing to
43. 2:16wage war on its European neighbor,
44. 2:19Ukraine. And there are still fears in
45. 2:21Europe that it won't stop there.
46. 2:25In Paris, there was one arrival that had
47. 2:28everyone clapping.
48. 2:30The Ukrainian President Volalinski
49. 2:33and the handful of his troops who took
50. 2:35part.
51. 2:38This was undeniably a show of unity for
52. 2:40Ukraine. There were leaders from other
53. 2:42mostly European countries who've
54. 2:45promised to keep supporting Kiev once
55. 2:47the war ends.
56. 2:50What also caught the eye were these
57. 2:53drones, the latest battlefield weapon
58. 2:56which has changed how wars are fought.
59. 2:59So coming through now you can see the
60. 3:00British contingent. They're from the
61. 3:02Grenadier Guards and it's the first time
62. 3:04in around 20 years that they've marched
63. 3:07alongside their French counterparts.
64. 3:10They're part of what's called the
65. 3:12coalition of the willing. these other
66. 3:13countries, including France, mostly
67. 3:16European nations, that have said,
68. 3:17"Right, we're going to work together,
69. 3:19and we're going to try and sustain some
70. 3:22kind of peace in Ukraine once the war
71. 3:24ends." It's undoubtedly a show of unity.
72. 3:27But there are still big questions over
73. 3:30how capable they are to bring security,
74. 3:33to bring peace to Ukraine without
75. 3:35America,
76. 3:38>> whose President Donald Trump isn't as
77. 3:40invested in European security as those
78. 3:43in Paris today.
79. 3:44>> Good morning.
80. 3:48France has also offered to protect the
81. 3:50whole continent with its own nuclear
82. 3:52weapons in the hope it'll put off
83. 3:54countries like Russia from attacking it
84. 3:56in the future. Colonel Zavier Rial is
85. 4:00responsible for one of the air bases
86. 4:02that can launch them.
87. 4:03>> This moment is a really important moment
88. 4:06in in the French culture. We are going
89. 4:08to to march on the Shanzer. We are going
90. 4:12to be proud of that and we are going to
91. 4:14demonstrate our ability to do things
92. 4:17with precision and when we are doing
93. 4:20nuclear operations we have to do that
94. 4:23with precision as well. So that's why
95. 4:26marching on the Shanzer is really
96. 4:27important for us today.
97. 4:29>> We're now walking up the Shanza to meet
98. 4:32the deputy general of the French first
99. 4:34division and interestingly he's British.
100. 4:38We have a war, a land war going on in
101. 4:41Europe for the first time since the
102. 4:42Second World War. It's concerning. Um,
103. 4:45our job is to be ready for what may be
104. 4:47asked of us. Although, I should stress
105. 4:49we are a collective defense
106. 4:50organization. We don't pose a threat to
107. 4:52anybody.
108. 4:54>> Outside all of the ceremony, there has
109. 4:56been some substance.
110. 4:58This group of allies in fact met the day
111. 5:00before and announced that military
112. 5:03exercises would take place in countries
113. 5:05close to Ukraine to show they were
114. 5:07serious about enforcing an eventual
115. 5:09ceasefire in the country, even if
116. 5:12America isn't.