07/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - During the 6 June ceremonies in Caen for the 60th anniversary of the Normandy landing, President Chirac told Gerhard Schröder: "The European idea, the projects that it embodies, are in fact born right here (…). With the feeling (…) that we owe it to our dead to give a meaning to their sacrifice, with a resolute commitment along the only road that will guarantee peace in Europe: that of reconciliation between our two countries". He went on to say that the French "greet you as brothers". The German Chancellor declared that: "In Germany (…) we are aware of our responsibility toward history, and we assume it (…). We see the European battlefields with great sadness. And we are all the more grateful to see that France and Germany have never been as close to each other as they are today".