European troops march in Paris for Ukraine at Bastille Day

In a powerful display of European military solidarity and support for Ukraine, over 7,000 soldiers, including hundreds of foreign troops, marched down the Champs-Élysées in Paris on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, for France’s annual Bastille Day parade. The event, themed “European strategic awakening,” featured the largest contingent of troops in recent years and was attended by more than 25 heads of state, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the guest of honor.

The parade served as a symbolic capstone to a summit of the “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of more than 30 nations supporting Ukraine, which was held in Paris on Monday. At that meeting, leaders announced new security guarantees for Kyiv, including the formation of an air-defense coalition and plans to jointly develop a new European anti-ballistic missile system. The initiatives are intended to address Ukraine’s critical ammunition shortages and reduce European dependence on American military technology.

French President Emmanuel Macron, hosting his final Bastille Day parade before leaving office in 2027, framed the events as a response to the continent’s gravest threats in decades. In a speech on Monday, he...