The French Delegation at Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum celebrated the 227th anniversary of the French Révolution during an evening event on 12 July 2016 at a manor house in Brunssum.
Madam and Brigadier Claude Goudeau and the French contingent welcomed JFC Brunssum Commander, General Salvatore Farina and Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, Allied Maritime Command Commander along with several hundred military and civilian guests from NATO and the local community to commemorate the Fête de la Fédération, which is the festival held throughout France in honour of the French Révolution. First celebrated in 1790, it commemorated the events of 1789 and the storming of the Bastille in Paris.
General Goudeau highlighted in his speech the very purpose of the Révolution and the goal of celebrating its achievements each year. He quoted Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, bishop of Autun and Marquis de Lafayette who led the President of the National Assembly and all the deputies in a solemn oath to the coming Constitution: "We swear to be forever faithful to the Nation, to the Law, to uphold with all our might the Constitution as decided by the National Assembly, and to remain united with all French people by the indissoluble bonds of brotherhood.”
The event was also used as an opportunity to honour Lieutenant Colonel Philippe Delaroque, a French Officer working at NATO Communications and Information Agency, for his meritorious achievements to NATO. General Goudeau, in his capacity of French Senior National Representative and on behalf of the Président de la République, announced Lt. Col. Delaroque a knight in the French "Ordre National du Mérite”.
The joyful event in Brunssum is part of international celebrations that will occur all over French territories across the world around on the 14th of July for Bastille Day.