{"id":59931,"date":"2016-10-12T07:23:38","date_gmt":"2016-10-12T05:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=59931"},"modified":"2025-06-17T20:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T18:44:07","slug":"the-25-european-countries-that-organize-military-parades-on-their-national-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2016\/10\/12\/the-25-european-countries-that-organize-military-parades-on-their-national-days\/","title":{"rendered":"The 25 European countries that organize military parades on their national days"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The saying goes that it is a sign of good breeding to be grateful.<\/strong> That is why various countries celebrate their national holidays with military parades like the one organized today in Madrid.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The Armed Forces are an institution that exists in almost every country, tasked with ensuring the security and independence of the nation. <strong>Our military personnel take enormous risks, even taking their own lives, in service to the nation, and we owe them gratitude for that.<\/strong> The least we can do is give them a leading role in the National Holiday. In this, I insist, we are not alone. Without being exhaustive, I will limit myself to citing a few examples, based in Europe:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Belgium:<\/strong> National Day is celebrated on July 21 with a military parade in Brussels.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bulgaria:<\/strong> it celebrates its national day, Liberation Day, every March 3 with a military parade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/9\/8138\/29640144613_116145d49d_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto; margin:10px 0 5px 0;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>AMX-30B2 tanks of the Cypriot National Guard at the Cyprus Independence Day military parade in Nicosia, October 1, 2015 (Photo: Katia Christodoulou\/EPA)<\/small><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cyprus:<\/strong> Celebrates its Independence Day every October 1st with a military parade in Nicosia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Croatia<\/strong> celebrates its independence day every October 8th with a military parade in Zagreb.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spain:<\/strong> Every October 12th, a parade is held for National Holiday. Around May 31st, 2025, the Armed Forces Day parade is held.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Estonia:<\/strong> cada 24 de febrero celebra el d\u00eda de su independencia de Rusia con una parada militar en distintas ciudades cada a\u00f1o.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c1.staticflickr.com\/9\/8274\/29640144353_6f68245763_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto; margin:10px 0 5px 0;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Estonian soldiers at the Estonian Independence Day parade on February 24, 2015 in Narva (Photo: \u00dclo Josing\/ERR)<\/small><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>France:<\/strong> Its national day is July 14 and it is celebrated with a military parade along the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es in Paris.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Finland<a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2016\/10\/12\/otros-24-paises-de-europa-que-organizan-desfiles-militares-en-sus-dias-nacionales\/\">:<\/a><\/strong> Its national day is December 6, Independence Day, and it is celebrated with a military parade that rotates annually through different cities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Georgia<\/strong> celebrates its Independence Day on May 26 with a military parade in Tbilisi.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greece:<\/strong> Its national holiday is March 25th, Independence Day, and it is celebrated with a military parade in Athens. <strong>These parades have continued to be organized even after Syriza was in power<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=JdLDrB-FS2c\">You can see this year's here<\/a>). It should be remembered that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elblogsalmon.com\/economia\/grecia-y-lo-que-no-se-dice-de-su-gasto-militar\">Greece is one of the NATO countries that spends the most on defense<\/a> in relation to its GDP, something that has not changed under Syriza.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c2.staticflickr.com\/8\/7776\/30270750815_7d87fb504c_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto; margin:10px 0 5px 0;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Leopard 1 tanks of the Greek Army during the Greek Independence Day military parade on March 25, 2016 in Athens (Photo: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mod.mil.gr\/mod\/el\/content\/show\/41\/A96632\">Ministerio de Defensa de Grecia<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hungary<\/strong>: Its national day is August 20, St. Stephen's Day, and is celebrated with a military parade in Budapest's Kossuth Square.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ireland:<\/strong> Its national day is March 17, St. Patrick's Day, and it is celebrated with a military parade in Dublin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Italy:<\/strong> Its national day is June 2, the <em>Festa della Repubblica<\/em>, and is celebrated with a large military parade in Rome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Latvia<a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2016\/10\/12\/otros-24-paises-de-europa-que-organizan-desfiles-militares-en-sus-dias-nacionales\/\">:<\/a><\/strong> celebrates its Independence Day every February 18 with a military parade in Riga.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c2.staticflickr.com\/8\/7546\/29640144473_97d4b3cc57_c.jpg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto; margin:10px 0 5px 0;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Australian and New Zealand soldiers marching on Bastille Day in Paris, July 14, 2016, in tribute to their compatriots who fought in France during World War I. (Photo: Benoit Tessier\/Reuters)<\/small><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Lithuania:<\/strong> celebrates Independence Day every February 16 with a civic-military parade in Vilnius.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Luxembourg:<\/strong> The national day is on June 23 and is celebrated with a military parade in which the Grand Duke reviews his small army (less than 1,000 soldiers).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Moldova:<\/strong> Every August 27, Moldova celebrates the anniversary of its independence from the USSR with a military parade in Chisinau.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Norway<a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2016\/10\/12\/otros-24-paises-de-europa-que-organizan-desfiles-militares-en-sus-dias-nacionales\/\">:<\/a><\/strong> celebrates its national day on May 17, Constitution Day, with a civic-military parade in Oslo.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Poland:<\/strong> Its national day is on November 11, the anniversary of the country's restoration in 1918, and is celebrated with a military parade in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c2.staticflickr.com\/6\/5818\/29639630384_92d92afe9f_b.jpg\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto; margin:10px 0 5px 0;\" \/><br \/>\n<small>Polish soldiers at the military parade in Warsaw's Pilsudski Square on November 11, 2013, Poland's National Day (Photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/ministerstwoobronynarodowej\/10866385636\/\">Ministerio de Defensa de Polonia<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Portugal:<\/strong> Its national day is June 10, known as the Day of Portugal, Cam\u00f5es and the Portuguese Communities, and is celebrated with a military parade in Lisbon.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Romania:<\/strong> celebrates its national day on December 1 with a military parade in Bucharest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russia:<\/strong> Its national day is June 12, and it is celebrated in Moscow with a civic-military parade that includes soldiers dressed in clothing from different eras.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sweden:<\/strong> Its national day is June 6, and it is celebrated with a military parade in Stockholm.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Switzerland:<\/strong> Its national day is August 1st and it is celebrated annually with a colorful civic-military parade in Zurich.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ukraine<\/strong> celebrates its Independence Day every August 24 with a military parade in kyiv.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It could also be added, leaving the Old Continent, that one of our main allies, the <strong>United States<\/strong>, celebrates its national holiday on July 4th with a civic-military parade in Washington DC. In view of these examples, <strong>I wonder if some people think that all these countries are \"Francoist\"<\/strong> and if their proposals that Spain eliminate the military parade on October 12th, as if we should be ashamed of our military, might not have more to do with <strong>the blatant Hispanophobia displayed by certain separatist and far-left parties.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>(Header photo: <a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:511e_Train_Bastille_Day_2008.jpeg\">Marie-Lan Nguyen - Wikimedia<\/a>)<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The saying goes that it is a sign of good breeding to be grateful. That is why various countries celebrate their national holidays with military parades like the one organized today in Madrid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[11550],"tags":[11449,10103,12138,24671,15304,7325,13611,10575,11126,2049,15305,23802,10670,11019,11680,10707,11195,11327,11257,12166,10469,11462,10431],"class_list":["post-59931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense","tag-belgium","tag-bulgaria","tag-croatia","tag-cypriot-national-guard","tag-cyprus","tag-estonia","tag-finland","tag-france","tag-french-foreign-legion","tag-georgia","tag-greece","tag-greek-army","tag-hungary","tag-ireland","tag-italy","tag-latvia","tag-lithuania","tag-luxembourg","tag-moldova","tag-norway","tag-polish-army","tag-spain","tag-united-states"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-11 23:45:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59931\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}