British paratroopers who recently jumped at the historic ‘D-Day’ drop zone, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings, experienced an unexpected twist as they had to pass through French customs and passport control after landing. .
Los british paratroopers who had landed near the town of Sannerville, in the region of Normandypicked up their parachutes and walked across a field to a improvised border post equipped with a desk, a passport scanner and two laptops, and staffed by about half a dozen french border officialssome wearing uniforms of the customs agency from the country.
Since the The United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020los border controls in France and the rest of the 27 EU Member States they have hardened for British visitors and residents. The UK Ministry of Defense confirmed that the incident took place but did not comment on it.
Videos of paratroopers’ border controls in a Normandy field quickly became viral on social networks and user comments focused on the division that has existed for eight years over the Brexit: Some are still bitter about Britain’s departure from the EU and others mock French enthusiasm for the rules, while the two allied countries commemorate the beginning of the battle that led to the liberation of Europe against the Nazis.
More than 300 parachutists participated in the jump
The British tabloid ‘The Sun’ called the incident “a ridiculous moment.” More of 300 British, Belgian and American paratroopers They participated on Wednesday in the jump to recreate the events of the June 6, 1944.
This Thursday, King Charles III honored the 22,442 British soldiers who died in the battle of normandy and an entire generation that sacrificed and fought. The monarch said at a memorial ceremony in northern France that while the number of living veterans was declining, “our obligation to remember what they represented and what they achieved for us all can never diminish.”
