A Russian occupation and a veterans’ revolt – it’s D-Day all over again

The phrase ‘ring of steel’ hardly begins to describe the operation here in Calvados country as we await the 70th anniversary of the pivotal moment in modern history. Some world leaders are bringing warships as well as jets to the D-Day commemorations. The exclusion zone not only covers a chunk of northern France but even extends to cross-Channel ferries. Every Normandy veteran has had to be cleared for a pass although, as many point out: ‘We didn’t need a pass on 6 June 1944.’

If the cops are nervous, the protocol people are beside themselves: what do they do with President Putin? He may be the pariah du jour but Russia, which lost 27 million to Nazism, has to be included. Now that Putin’s been booted out of the G8 after annexing Crimea and his Winter Olympics are over, this is his one opportunity to grandstand with the head-of-state club. The crunch point will be Friday’s team photo and cosy lunch at the Château de Bénouville. Since D-Day was chiefly a UK/Canadian/US affair, the Queen and President Obama will be at top table with President Hollande (Prince Charles and David Cameron, not being heads of state, will be elsewhere). But if the French place Putin too far below the salt, the new Cold War may turn glacial.

This anniversary has a record of political tension. Come the 50th, in 1994, there was an EU schism when the Germans were not invited. At the 60th, the veterans complained when they were. At the 65th, President Sarkozy invited President Obama but not the Queen, and Gordon Brown was booed. The 70th bodes well for Angela Merkel, though. It will be a pleasant change for a German Chancellor to be in Normandy and see someone else on the naughty step.