Nation honours those who fell in conflict with European hymn
11 November is Armistice Day, the day the guns fell silent on the western front at the end of the Great War. It is a public holiday in Belgium.
Filip, King of Belgians, attended the customary ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Brussels this morning. Here at the foot of the Column of Congress, where the eternal flame burns, he paid tribute on behalf of a grateful nation. The ceremony experienced certain limitations due to the corona emergency. This year, exceptionally, there was no delegation of veterans. Among those attending you can spot two new faces: interior minister Annelies Verlinden and defence minister Ludivine Dedonder.
To mark the reconciliation of nations Van Beethoven’s Ode to Joy was played.