Replay: Paul Biya's speech on 80th anniversary of Provence landings

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00:00OK, we're going to listen to Paul Bia, delivering his remarks then.

00:09First of all, I would like to thank President Emmanuel Macron

00:15for inviting me here

00:20to take part in the 80th anniversary of the Provence landing.

00:25I would also like to thank him for the very warm welcome

00:32for myself and my delegation.

00:36I also salute your presence here,

00:40all of you who have come all this way

00:45to inaugurate in 1964 by General de Gaulle

00:51who was then President of the Republic

00:55in the presence of many combatants from France and Africa

01:00on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Provence landing.

01:09The Boulogne Necropolis is full of history.

01:14This is a place of remembering,

01:18this is a place of remembering, of pain,

01:24of taking stock,

01:27which calls upon us to think about the future of the world.

01:33Many soldiers here in Saint-Raphael

01:38and in the hinterlands of Provence as in Normandy and elsewhere in Europe

01:44gave their lives to fight the occupation,

01:50to save liberty,

01:53creating a wonderful chain of solidarity.

02:00We are still here today

02:03to remember their valor,

02:07to remember this war for liberty.

02:13And to pay homage.

02:19Heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen,

02:24the thousands of men under leadership of the General de Lattre de Tassigny

02:31fought with courage

02:34and many of them were from the colonial empire of France

02:38who came from sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere

02:44and the contribution of Africa was significant

02:49to break the German occupation.

02:58An occupation destroying liberty

03:02and the troops had been given the order to fight

03:06to their very last bullet.

03:12Assistance from the Free France territories

03:18provided major support

03:22in this battle.

03:25Among others, it was to raise troops in Africa

03:31considered as a potential base for reconquering Europe

03:36that Colonel Leclerc went to Cameroon.

03:43The rallying of Cameroon, one of the very first,

03:48was immediately obtained as early as the 27th of August 1940

03:55which made General de Gaulle say that Cameroon had just

04:01made a wonderful decision

04:03and are setting a magnificent example.

04:07The swiftness of this rallying allowed General de Gaulle

04:13to demonstrate to his allies the reality of a combative France.

04:20The troops under command of Colonel Leclerc

04:25had many men from French equatorial Africa

04:32and Cameroon.

04:35It is from Douala that the expeditions departed

04:40which then made up the Leclerc column.

04:47There are many courageous acts of these soldiers

04:53and they went through Tunisia in 1942

04:57and then through Sicily in Italy and then Corsica.

05:01Without omitting Chad.

05:05Everywhere where the fighting took them,

05:09these valorous soldiers from Africa,

05:15from Madagascar, from the Indian Ocean

05:20were magnificently illustrated.

05:25They did pay a very heavy tribute for the victory.

05:29The combatants were often heirs to memorable warrior traditions

05:40with wonderful courage and audacity and loyalty.

05:44They were the artisans of victory.

05:49Their blood forever mixed with other blood

05:54so that France and its allies

05:59be definitively covered in glory.

06:04In this day of memory, we owe them enormous respect.

06:12Heads of state and government, ladies and gentlemen,

06:17there would not have been an Allied victory

06:22without the sacred alliance of the volunteers

06:26and the contribution of other peoples.

06:30Without foreigners, without the tirayeux,

06:36this battle was won altogether

06:40in defense of the values and humanist values of justice and peace.

06:47This presents a vision of the world and mankind which we share.

06:52On behalf of this, together we fought side by side.

06:58These legions were respectful of our differences,

07:04of the infinite diversity of humans, of civilizations, of religions.

07:12And this vision within all of us

07:17says that we all have equal access to dignity.

07:24And this battle was a precious lesson

07:28that we must perpetuate and transmit to future generations

07:33to avoid the errors made in our past.

07:38Personally, I have the conviction that international solidarity

07:43and better understanding of the interests of other countries,

07:48especially in the Global South,

07:53would provide more peace in the world today.

07:58This is also the meaning of our presence here.

08:03Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

08:08we are here in Provence,

08:11to remember a war of the past

08:15and to pay homage to the heroes of our history.

08:20But the war which we thought forever banished from our territory

08:27is once again present in Europe and closer than ever.

08:34Once again, men are fighting just a few hours from here.

08:38This is to say that international organizations

08:43and the systems implemented following the two World Wars,

08:49especially the Second World War, remain perfectible.

08:55Yes, the ghosts of revenge

09:00and the flagrant violation of state sovereignty

09:04is intolerable

09:08in our daily lives.

09:12International law interpreted in various ways,

09:17the instrumentalization,

09:21the right to forget,

09:25or other wars and the permanent willingness to dominate,

09:29to exploit, to build a world in one's own advantage,

09:35are the shadows in which we stand today

09:40and which explain our presence here.

09:45This commemoration must also highlight

09:50our collective responsibility

09:54in preserving peace and liberty in the world.

09:59We must find responses

10:03to the terror of terrorism,

10:08injustice.

10:12We must bolster trust

10:16in multilateralism

10:19to bring to life the concord

10:23and make the world safer.

10:27Almost everywhere,

10:31the major question remains

10:35to know whether we should capitulate

10:39before the pessimism of the inevitability of war

10:43or if we can still build a future full of hope

10:46where war would definitively be part of history.

10:51Unfortunately, geopolitics,

10:55world geostrategy,

10:59dominated by the race to arms,

11:03by the construction of blocks,

11:07has back.

11:11Once again,

11:14we see paramilitary militias

11:18being set up,

11:22and now war is carried out by proxies.

11:26If we do nothing,

11:30the world once again is heading

11:34for conflict with incalculable consequences.

11:38Cameroon has always

11:41had recourse to dialogue,

11:45to concerted solutions.

11:49We have always made the Pacific Resolution of Differences

11:53the key to our undertakings

11:57to stop war and strife.

12:01Here I would like to salute

12:05the organization of this commemoration

12:08which constitutes an excellent occasion

12:12to promote solidarity amongst nations

12:16for lasting peace so we can all face

12:20the major problems of our times together.

12:24Thank you for your kind attention.

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