President to attend French Nat´l Day celebrations today

President Sauli Niinistö will participate in the celebration of the French National Day or Bastille Day in Paris on Sunday, said an official press release.

The visit of the President will be hosted by his France counterpart Emmanuel Macron.

The visit will begin with the traditional Bastille Day parade at Avenue des Champs-Élysées. This year the parade will celebrate European defence cooperation with participants from all the countries, including Finland, that have joined the European Intervention Initiative (EI2) set out by France.

After the parade, there will be a luncheon hosted by President Macron and a bilateral meeting between Niinistö and Macron.

Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille fortress, a turning point of the French revolution.