Canada buys land in France's Juno Beach due to condo plan
Canada will help buy a plot of land in France that was once stormed by allied troops on D-Day during World War Two.
The purchase ends a three-year battle with a French developer that planned to construct two condominium buildings in the area, BBC reports.
Canada feared the construction would affect a museum nearby that commemorates Canadian soldiers who died during the war.
Courseulles-Sur-Mer, the local town, will buy the land back with Canada.
Canada will contribute nearly C$4m ($2.9m; £2.6m) to the purchase, said federal veteran affairs minister Lawrence MacAulay in an announcement in Ottawa on Friday.
France's Juno Beach is home to the privately-owned Juno Beach Centre, a 20-year-old Canadian museum that pays tribute to 45,000 soldiers from Canada who lost their lives during WW2.
The land is historically significant, as it is where allied troops first arrived ashore in France on 6 June 1944, known as D-Day.
It is also where the Battle of Normandy took place, an important milestone in the liberation of western Europe from Nazi Germany.
Around 5,500 Canadian soldiers were killed in the Battle of Normandy and 381 died on D-Day.
editor@caliber.az
+994 55 444-88-98
Азербайджан, Баку, ул. Низами, 203, Af Business House, 5-й этаж