A series of international leaders used a global commemoration of the end of the First World War to warn about the risk politicians who call themselves nationalists pose to a fragile peace, in a message aimed at the American president.
What started with the French president saying that nationalist leaders threaten to erase a nationB次元官网网址檚 moral values by putting their own interests first regardless of the effects on others, ended with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying voters will turn for easy answers and scapegoats.
U.S. President Donald Trump in recent weeks described himself as a nationalist and has frequently sparred with the media, whom he has labelled as B次元官网网址渇ake newsB次元官网网址� and the enemy of the people B次元官网网址� both of which were on display last week in a free-wheeling press conference after the U.S. midterm elections.
Speaking at a peace forum organized by French President Emmanuel Macron, Trudeau said attacks on the press are part of a concerted political effort to maintain power and staunch any criticism.
B次元官网网址淎ttacks on the media are not just about getting your preferred political candidate elected, for example, they are about increasing the level of cynicism that citizens have towards all authorities, towards all of the institutions that are there to protect us as citizens,B次元官网网址� Trudeau said to a crowd of about 150 people.
B次元官网网址淲hen people feel their institutions canB次元官网网址檛 protect them, they look for easy answers in populism, in nationalism, in closing borders, in shutting down trade, in xenophobia.B次元官网网址�
READ MORE:
Macron, Trudeau and other leaders came to Paris hoping to use the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War to renew calls to quash festering tensions across the globe.
Macron warned how fragile peace can be in an age where the tensions that gave rise to four years of bloody battle, costing millions of lives, appear to be festering again. He told the assembled masses that the B次元官网网址渢races of this war never went away.B次元官网网址�
He urged the leaders present to promise their peoples that the resurgent B次元官网网址漮ld demonsB次元官网网址� would not be able to return, sowing B次元官网网址渃haos and death.B次元官网网址�
Though Trump sat mostly stone-faced as he listened to MacronB次元官网网址檚 words, he had left by the time Trudeau began to speak.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in an opening speech at the peace forum, spoke about how lack of communication and an unwillingness to compromise can have dire consequences for countries.
B次元官网网址淭here is a general sense and desire among many countries, including Canada to do whatever is possible to sustain the institutions of the international order and practical, multilateral co-operation. And so you see that in Canada, you see that in Germany,B次元官网网址� said Roland Paris, TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 former foreign adviser.
B次元官网网址淢acron (is) essentially making that point: that we can sustain co-operation, we must sustain co-operation.B次元官网网址�
Trudeau, who is on a 10-day trip across Europe and Asia, will come face-to-face with three of the nations sowing tension: Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trudeau sat beside Putin and the pair briefly chatted at the opening session of MacronB次元官网网址檚 peace summit on Sunday. Trudeau acknowledged the Russian peopleB次元官网网址檚 sacrifices through the two World Wars and said it was important to have Russian representation in Paris to talk about peace, the Prime MinisterB次元官网网址檚 Office said.
Earlier in the weekend, Trudeau spoke with Trump at a dinner Macron organized on Friday night B次元官网网址� although government officials wouldnB次元官网网址檛 say the exact topic of conversation.
Trudeau has had to navigate the mercurial American president, and talked pointedly about him on Sunday afternoon, but never mentioned Trump by name, as he is prone to do.
Trump did not shake TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 hand when he arrived with wife Melania at the iconic Arc de Triomphe for the Nov. 11 ceremony. Neither Trump nor Putin walked a bit of the Champs-Elysee with other leaders after church bells rang out as the hour turned to 11 a.m. local time, marking the moment the guns fell silent across Europe a century ago.
FranceB次元官网网址檚 ambassador to Canada described the peace forum as a way to amplify the voices of non-governmental organizations and prod political leaders present to commit to MacronB次元官网网址檚 call for peace.
B次元官网网址淚f youB次元官网网址檙e not backed up by the highest political authority, nothing will happen,B次元官网网址� Kareen Rispal said in an interview Friday.
B次元官网网址淵ou have to get the real commitment from the political leaders.B次元官网网址�
Rispal also said TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 appearance at the Arc de Triomphe ceremony would be a reminder of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 contributions during the war, which arenB次元官网网址檛 always recognized in Europe.
Some 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders served in the First World War, and more than 66,000 of them lost their lives. About 172,000 more were injured.
Others served behind the front lines, working with locals to aid the war effort.
B次元官网网址淲e as French, we as Europeans B次元官网网址� I think we donB次元官网网址檛 value enough the effort made by the Canadians,B次元官网网址� Rispal said in an interview Friday.
B次元官网网址� With files from the Associated Press.
Jordan Press, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
