Prime Minister Andrej Babiš attended the celebrations to mark the anniversary of Operation Overlord in Portsmouth

On Wednesday, 5 June 2019, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš attended, at the invitation of British Prime Minister Theresa May, the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings in Portsmouth.

The 75th anniversary of the Normandy landings, known as Operation Overlord, was commenced with a military parade attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Other prominent guests included US President Donald Trump, French President Emanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Part of the military parade was the screening of profiles presenting individual countries involved in Operation Overlord.

As part of the celebrations, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and other distinguished guests, accompanied by His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales, met with D-Day war veterans. The commemorative program was concluded after ceremonial lunch.

“I had the honour to represent the Czech Republic at the anniversary of the Allied forces landing in Normandy. I think it is important that the Czech Republic was seen here because during the Second World War we fought together with the Allies against Nazism, against Adolf Hitler,” said the Prime Minister about the visit.

After that, Prime Minister Babiš visited the cemetery in Chichester, where eighty-two fallen from World War II, including seven Czechoslovak soldiers, were buried. The Prime Minister honoured the memory of František Fanta, Jan Laška, Vojtěch Lysický, Miroslav Moravec, Vilém Nosek, Antonín Velebnovský and Jan Vlk by laying a wreath and flowers on their graves.  

“Here at the Chichester cemetery lie seven of our pilots who died in preparation for the Normandy landing. It is important that we participated in the beginning of the defeat of the Nazi Germany. In the UK, we had two and a half thousand pilots, who had a great reputation for their skills. Unfortunately, five hundred of these pilots died in the Battle of Britain and Operation Overlord”, said Andrej Babiš.

During World War II Czechoslovak pilots fought side by side with British soldiers and soldiers from other countries of the Allied forces, making a significant contribution to victory over Nazism and restoring peace. This partnership, which existed between Czechoslovakia and the United Kingdom during World War II, is still reflected in the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.