President Iohannis, among world leaders attending Armistice Centennial ceremony in Paris

President Klaus Iohannis was among the over 70 world leaders who attended on Sunday at the Arch of Triumph in Paris the ceremony of the Centennial of the Armistice that put an end to the WWI hostilities. US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spain’s King Felipe the 6th, European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker were among those who attended the ceremony. President Iohannis was accompanied by his wife Carmen. After they were welcomed to the Elysee Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte, the world leaders arrive to the Arch of Triumph by buses. They walked the remaning hundreds meters on Champs Elysees to the Arch of Triumph. The US President came straight to the ceremony. Before arriving to the Arch of Triumph, a Femen militant, topless, got close to Donald Trump’s convoy. Russia’s President also came straight to the ceremony of the Armistice Centennial. In the beginning of the celebrations, an aircraft escadrille coloured the sky in the colours of France’s flag. The Armistice Centennial ceremony included several moments among which military honours, the troops review, the performance of the national anthem of France – “La Marseillaise” by the Army choir, the performance of some pieces composed by Sebastian Bach and Maurice Ravel by cello player Yo Yo Ma and violin player Renaud Capucon, as well as some pieces such as “Blewu” by Angelique Kidjo and Ravel’s Bolero by the European Union Youth Orchestra, some pupils reading some testimonies written on the day of the armistice in 2019, the speech delivered by President Macron and moments of silence. The world leaders will also participate on Sunday in the lunch extended by France’s President and in the Paris Peace Forum. This forum is an initiative of the French President designed to generate concrete projects in the spirit of multilateralism and contemporary cooperation in support of peace. On Saturday, President Klaus Iohannis attended an event hosted by the Embassy of Romania in Paris dedicated to the Romanian contribution to the development of science and technology in the Centennial Year of Romania’s Greater Union. Moreover, the Romanian President and his wife Carmen attended the events organised by the French Presidency at the Orsay Museum on Saturday and visited the ‘Picasso Bleu et Rose’ exhibition, and took part in a dinner extended by his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in honour of the heads of state, government and international organisations. One hundred years ago, on 11 November 1918, the cannons on all WWI fronts were silenced, after 5 years of bloody combat, at the coming into force of the Armistice signed by Germany and the Entente representatives in a train wagon in Compeigne, France. The Armistice Day is commemorated each year on 11 November to celebrate the peace treaty signed between the Entente and the Central Powers in Compiegne, France, an event that marked the end of the hostilities on the West Front in WWI. Initially, this truce ceased after a 36-day period. The treaty on the definitive cessation of hostilities was formally signed in Versailles in 1919.

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