SOLBIATE OLONA (VA), JULY 14th, 2014 - Today in Ugo Mara Barracks in Solbiate Olona (VA), home of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Italy (NRDC-ITA), French National Day was celebrated. After National anthems, the French Senior National Representative, Colonel Daniel Zouggari, pointed out that: The French National Day does not celebrate the bloody storming of the Bastille, the prison symbol of absolute monarchy on 14 July 1789, but what happened exactly one year later, when in Paris was organized, on the field of Mars, at the Feast of the Federation. This was where the foundations of French national unity were laid.
Colonel Zouggari recalled the historical and political importance of the affirmation of the fundamental humanitarian principles of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. He noted that, in defending these principles, millions of soldiers around the world have sacrificed their lives. He spoke of these principles being rooted in the DNA of those who decide to join the military.
The Deputy Commander of the NRDC-ITA, Major General Sir George Norton, emphasized the importance of the celebrated French event throughout the world, and the effects it has had on other nations. He used the examples of the United States and England, where it accelerated the process that has led to the advent of the current great democracies.
