Joseph Muscat to join Unity Rally in Paris on Sunday

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat will be among the European leaders joining a Unity Rally to be held in Paris, France, this Sunday following the Charlie Hebdo shooting that left 12 people dead, among them nine journalists.

Muscat is attending at the invitation of the French President.

On Sunday I will join @fhollande in Paris to show that #Malta stands with French people in favour of democracy and against terror-JM @Elysee

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) January 9, 2015

Dimanche je serais a Paris avec @fhollande contre le terrorisme -JM #jesuischarlie #Malta #France @Elysee

— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) January 9, 2015

I've accepted President Hollande's invitation to join the Unity Rally in Paris this Sunday - celebrating the values behind #CharlieHebdo.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 9, 2015

Dimanche je serais avec @fhollande a Paris #JeSuisCharlie Non permetteremo alla paura di cambiarci #Europa

— Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) January 9, 2015

I will take part in the Unity Rally in support of #CharlieHebdo and #FreedomOfSpeech in Paris on Sunday.

— Alexander Stubb (@alexstubb) January 9, 2015

UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Italy’s premier Matteo Renzi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have also confirmed their attendance.

The rally is expected to see French president François Hollande line up alongside his old adversary Nicolas Sarkozy at the head of the march and will see politicians and elected officials from all mainstream parties take to the streets. The French press have described the rare showing of bipartisanism as a return to the “union sacrée” - the sacred union - a phrase coined during World War I.

A row between politicians broke out in France however, after the National Front were reportedly not invited to take part in Sunday’s rally for ‘national unity’ in Paris. A spokesperson for the Socialist Party was quoted in the papers as saying that the National Front were not invited because they “didn’t want organisations that divide the country, stigmatise our fellow Muslims and play on their fears”.