France is literally on fire while its ruling class throws a military parade for foreign wars. President Emmanuel Macron's final Bastille Day celebration put Ukrainian troops on the Champs-Elysées and Ukrainian co-pilots in French Mirage jets — even as wildfires ravaged the Fontainebleau forest and a searing heatwave forced officials across the country to cancel traditional fireworks and festivities.
The spectacle is the same playbook Washington's establishment follows: prioritize foreign commitments over domestic crises, then lecture citizens about why they should foot the bill. France's largest-ever military parade — nearly 6,700 troops, 98 aircraft, 315 vehicles — was repurposed into a showcase for the western coalition supporting Ukraine. About 500 foreign soldiers from those nations marched alongside French troops, a break from the tradition of inviting only one foreign country. British troops participated for the first time in roughly 20 years.
Macron called it a "great honour" to welcome "all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends, who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity." A French official said the display was meant to send "a strong signal that Europe is waking up to how dangerous the world has become."
AP reported the event was aimed at showing both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump "that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself." The message to Washington is clear: Europe wants Americans to know it's serious — while still expecting U.S. backing for the bill.
Meanwhile, roughly 850 firefighters and four water-bombing planes battled two wildfires in the Fontainebleau forest about 40 miles southeast of Paris. The blazes had consumed roughly 2,050 hectares — about 10% of the forest — by midday Tuesday. Some 1,000 people were forced from their homes. Authorities arrested two people, including an 18-year-old man, on suspicion of arson.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 32,000 hectares have burned across France so far this year — more than all of 2025 — with traditionally cooler regions like Brittany also affected. The Guardian attributed the extreme weather to "human-caused climate breakdown" supercharging conditions; AP noted the red-alert heat wave without editorializing on cause.
The disconnect was stark: leaders applauding foreign troops on a Parisian avenue while citizens flee their homes and local officials cancel the celebrations that actually matter to working people. Firefighters' balls in Paris were scrapped to avoid heat exhaustion and reduce strain on emergency services already stretched thin.
Zelenskyy received ovations from the assembled leaders and shared "repeated hugs" with Macron at the parade's end, according to AP. France's deputy defence minister, Alice Rufo, declared the procession showed "a Europe united and determined to support Ukraine in the face of Russia, a Europe that is confident in itself."
Confident enough to march — but not confident enough to put out its own fires.
