Virus robs WWII anniversary of pomp

BERLIN/MOSCOW－Europe marked 75 years since the end of World War II in a somber mood on Friday as the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of elaborate ceremonies.

Large-scale parades that had been envisaged to commemorate victory over the Nazis have been downsized as the world grapples with a fearsome new enemy that has killed 277,000 people and sickened more than 3.7 million.

Street parties this year were banned in Britain. In France, President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the Arc de Triomphe monument at the top of a largely deserted Champs-Elysees Avenue since the country is still under a strict lockdown until Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in laying wreaths at Neue Wache－Germany's main memorial to the victims of war.

"The coronavirus pandemic is forcing us to commemorate alone－apart from those who are important to us and to whom we are grateful," Steinmeier said.

He urged Germans to "think, feel and act as Europeans" amid the coronavirus crisis.

Likewise, large parades across Europe were scrapped, drastically downsized or moved online, as the continent grapples with its biggest crisis since World War II.

With veterans already at an advanced age, organizers of marches had deemed it too risky for them to attend events even in countries which have begun to ease lockdown measures.

Russia had originally planned a huge military display on its May 9 Victory Day, with world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron on the guest list.

Flypast for Saturday

But now only a flypast will take place over Moscow's Red Square on Saturday, as the country becomes Europe's new hotspot of infections.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial, before making a TV address that will not only touch on the war, but is also expected to chart out the country's next steps on battling the virus.

On Friday, Putin sent telegrams to US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, suggesting the need to rekindle their nations' cooperation during World War II to solve today's problems.

Putin's overture was the latest ina series of contacts with Washington with whom Moscow is keen to rebuild relations frayed over many issues.

Putin and Trump said they worked closely together to clinch a global oil production cuts deal and spoke by phone on Thursday when Trump offered to supply Russia with medical equipment to help fight the new coronavirus.

In the message to Trump, Putin said Russia and the United States now stood at the forefront of confronting global challenges.

"Our countries could do a lot to ensure international security and stability," he said.

Moscow's ties with London remain badly strained over the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in England.

Putin told Johnson the Allies' togetherness during World War II was needed today and that the memory of those years could help British-Russian ties improve.

The telegrams were among many Putin dispatched to the Soviet Union's World War II allies on the 75th anniversary of the end of the conflict in Europe.

On the anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender to Allied forces in Europe in 1945, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the pandemic is unleashing "a tsunami of hate and xenophobia, scapegoating and scare-mongering". He appealed for "an all-out effort to end hate speech globally".

The UN chief warned that "anti-foreigner sentiment has surged online and in the streets, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories have spread and COVID-19-related anti-Muslim attacks have occurred".

Agencies - Xinhua