Biden warns democracy ‘at risk’ as leaders mark D-Day

OMAHA BEACH, France: US President Joe Biden on Thursday warned on the 80th anniversary of D-Day that democracy around the world was at risk, as leaders marked the 1944 landings in occupied France that helped defeat Nazi Germany in World War II.

Haunted by today´s war in Europe following Russia´s invasion of Ukraine, Biden, Britain´s King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Allied troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944.

The commemorations also provided a hugely symbolic backdrop to talks on how Kyiv can regain ground after Russian advances, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attending an international ceremony with all the leaders.

Biden said D-Day showed the need for international alliances and vowed never to abandon Ukraine in its fight against Russia, in a pointed swipe at his election rival ex-president Donald Trump who has publicly questioned the importance of organisations such as Nato.

“We´re living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II,” Biden said.

“Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today,” he said. “Real alliances make us stronger -- a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget.”

Biden also vowed that, under his leadership, the United States “will not walk away” from Ukraine “because if we do, Ukraine will be subjugated and it will not end there”.

“Ukraine´s neighbours will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened,” he added, describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “tyrant bent on domination”. He said that to surrender to bullies or “bow down to dictators” is “simply unthinkable”.

Kyiv has been pushing Europe to up its military support, with Russia in recent months gaining the upper hand on the battlefield and concerns growing over what a Trump presidency could mean for the conflict.

“Allies defended Europe´s freedom then, and Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then, and true unity can prevail today,” Zelensky said in a post on X. Arriving at the ceremony he shook hands with wheelchair-bound veterans, bowing down in respect to them.