PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is leading ceremonies marking 73 years since the defeat of the Nazis and the end of World War II in Europe.

Macron rode up the Champs-Elysees in Paris, escorted by helmeted Republican Guards. He spoke with war veterans, and laid wreaths at a statue of wartime Gen. Charles de Gaulle and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the foot of Napoleon's Arc de Triomphe.

The heavily touristed Paris neighborhood was under heavy security for Tuesday's ceremony, marking Germany's capitulation to Allied forces on May 8, 1945.

It was the first time Macron led the Victory in Europe Day ceremony as president. Macron is a strong champion of Franco-German cooperation and the European unity built from the ashes of World War II.