From London to Bucharest, Europe demonstrates against the war in Ukraine

From the UK to the Baltics, leaders from across Europe took part in ceremonies, underlining their unwavering support for Ukraine and paying tribute to the victims of the conflict.

The crowd fell silent for a minute in Freedom Square in Tallinn, the Estonian capital, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, gathered to honor the memory of the dead. In London, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also observed a minute’s silence outside Downing Street before the Ukrainian anthem was sung by two singers wearing traditional Ukrainian shirts.

Twelve demonstrations in Berlin

In the German capital, which remained a symbol of the Cold War with the wall that cut it in two for nearly 28 years, thirteen demonstrations took place, bringing together thousands of people: eleven in favor of Ukraine, one against arms deliveries and one for peace. The biggest of them, organized under the banner “we will never forget”, had around 8,000 participants, according to a police spokeswoman.

At the Berlin International Film Festival, a demonstration of solidarity with Ukraine brought together dozens of film personalities on the red carpet, including the president of the jury, American star Kristen Stewart, who waved Ukrainian flags and signs in the colors of Ukraine. In western Germany, between the cities of Osnabrück and Münster, around 18,000 people formed a human chain for peace, holding hands for several minutes.

In the morning, passers-by were able to observe in the heart of the German capital, a few steps from the emblematic Brandenburg Gate, a Russian tank that activists had towed in the night. to place it in front of the Russian Embassy. This unusual image had attracted many curious people on Friday morning, including classes on school visits.

In Bucharest, a few hundred people, mostly Ukrainians and many children, marched to the Russian Embassy shouting “Crimea is Ukrainian! », « Terrorist Russia! or even “Stop the war!” “. In Sofia, a thousand people gathered on Friday in front of the Bulgarian presidency building, waving yellow and blue flags. In Vilnius, as they have been doing for a year, many Lithuanians were still numerous this Friday to show their support for the Ukrainians.

Demonstrations also took place in Warsaw and Bern, while diplomats from around 30 countries gathered in the immediate vicinity of the United Nations in Geneva, also in a sign of solidarity with Ukraine.

Tribute in Paris to the Ukrainian resistance

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated Thursday evening in yellow and blue colors, like the buildings of the European Commission and Parliament in Brussels or the National Theater in Warsaw and the Place d’Armes, in the heart of Luxembourg.

Hundreds of people gathered Friday evening in the French capital to pay tribute to the resistance “ heroic of the Ukrainian people. In Marseille, the second city of France, several hundred people gathered in front of the Town Hall, in a cloud of Ukrainian flags, carrying signs “all the world stand by Ukraine” (“everyone supports Ukraine “). This gathering was held not far from the anchor offered by the Ukrainian city of Odessa and repositioned for a year on the Old Port to recall the twinning between the two port cities. A little earlier in Toulouse, a city twinned with kyiv, a hundred people had gathered near the Place du Capitole. Other protests took place across France, from Strasbourg in the east to Lille in the north.

In London, liters of paint were dumped in front of the Russian embassy to repaint the pavement in Ukrainian colors and hundreds of Britons went to Trafalgar Square for the occasion.

(With AFP)