French President Emmanuel Macron has laid a wreath in front of the statue of General de Gaulle on the Place Clemenceau in Paris in a ceremony commemorating the 76th anniversary of the allied victory of 8 May 1945.
The date is normally marked with ceremonies in Paris and across France but due to COVID-19 restrictions only small-scale events took place.
Commemorations also took place in the Polish capital Warsaw.
In Pilsudski Square, where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is placed, representatives of the government, the President and the Army laid flowers.
Poland lost about six million people under Nazi occupation during the second World War.
The Czech Republic marked the event with leading politicians and army officials laying wreaths at the National Monument in Prague’s Vítkov Hill.
Members of the public kept away due to coronavirus restrictions.
President Miloš Zeman arrived at the ceremony in a wheelchair.
As with some other European countries the day is marked in the Czech Republic as a national holiday.
