French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday sought to showcase European military cooperation in the annual Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions between Europe and the United States.

Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, joined Macron to watch the parade down the Champs-Elysees that marks the July 14, 1789 storming of the Bastille fortress in Paris in the French Revolution.

Over 4,000 members of the armed forces, including regiments from other European armies, marched down the famed cobbles of the avenue in a tradition that dates back to the aftermath of World War I.

Army dogs festooned with medals, members of France's celebrated Foreign Legion and mounted cavalry in glittering uniforms brandishing ceremonial sabres all paraded in front of the high-ranking guests.

Meanwhile, French inventor and entrepreneur Franky Zapata showed off his futuristic flyboard, soaring above the Champs Elysees and the assembled leaders.

Standing in an open-top command car alongside France's chief of staff General Francois Lecointre, Macron inspected the waiting forces and waved to the crowds.

But in a reminder of the domestic troubles the president has faced in the last months, he met jeers and whistles from supporters of the "yellow vest" movement who have staged weekly protests against the government.

Two prominent members of the movement Jerome Rodrigues and Maxime Nicolle, were both detained by the police, sources told AFP.

Closer European defense cooperation has been one of Macron's key foreign policy aims and the president shows no sign of wavering despite growing political turbulence in Germany and Britain's looming exit from the European Union.

At the 2017 parade, Macron's guest of honor was the freshly-inaugurated US President Donald Trump as the young French leader sought to take the initiative in forming a bond with his counterpart.

But since then ties between Trump and Macron have soured over the US pullout from the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, as well as France's new law for a tax on digital giants, mostly US companies.

Macron, who pushed the idea of the European Intervention Initiative (E2I) to undertake missions outside of existing structures like NATO, says European defense cooperation is crucial. 

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE