French Prime Minister Jean- Pierre Raffarin, now in hospital, sent Saturday a message calling on the French to show "worthy" of the "message" of the 1945 victors and Europe's founding fathers.
The message was read by French Defense Minister Michele Alliot- Marie, who presided over on Saturday on the behalf of the ailing Raffarin the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the signature of German armed forces' capitulation on May 7, 1945 in the eastern French town of Reims.
In blue shirt, Alliot-Marie made her speech in front of a great crowd and a parade of ancient military vehicles.
The Saturday ceremony in Reims kicked off a series of activities in Europe to commemorate the end of World War II.
The 56-year-old prime minister's operation for his "acute inflammation of the gall-bladder" was completed "without any particular difficulty" and he was asked to stay in hospital for " simple" post-operative treatment, according to a statement released Saturday evening by Paris Val-de-Grace military hospital, where Raffarin was hospitalized earlier in the day.
Alliot-Marie is often considered as his possible successor.