German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said here Sunday that France and Germany should work together to create a Europe of hope.

He made the remarks at a ceremony marking the presence of both German and French leaders at the 60th anniversary of Normandy landings.

"The war cemeteries and the scars of the two World Wars have imposed a lasting duty on the peoples of Europe," he said.

"We look upon the battlefields of Europe in profound sorrow, and are thus all the more thankful that France and Germany are today closer allies than ever before. A European partnership has risen from the ashes of nationalist insanity.

Let us benefit from this day of remembrance to advance our project for peace," the German leader stressed.

He said that they should try to build a united, free Europe which lives up to its responsibility for peace and just across the continent and around the world.

"The creation of such a Europe is our great hope," he told a large mixed audience of war veterans and youngsters from both countries.

Schroeder's presence at this ceremony is the first German leader having ever been invited to attend ceremonies of remembrance of Normandy landings.

It is widely believed that his presence at this year's celebration activities is a great gesture of reconciliation between the French and German peoples.

French President Jacques Chirac sent an invitation to Schroederat the end of 2003, who was very pleased to have received it, German officials were quoted as saying.

Source: Xinhua