Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, has awarded Major General Staff Pilot Rashed Mohammed Al Shamsi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defense, the Legion of Honor – Chevalier (Knight), in recognition of his significant contributions to the advancement of military relations between the UAE and France.

This medal is among the highest national decorations in France, and is usually awarded to French or foreign personalities, UAE national news agency WAM reported.

Lieutenant-General Pilot Frederic Barizot, Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the French Air and Space Forces, awarded Major General Staff Pilot Rashid with the honor during a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi by the Air Force and Air Defense Command, in the presence of a number of senior Defense Ministry officers from both sides.

Major General Al Shamsi expressed his deep thanks and appreciation to the French President for the honor, wishing relations between the two countries to witness further development and progress.

In another development, Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs, attended Tuesday the graduation ceremony of the 39th batch of undergraduate students of Zayed II Military College, held at the College’s headquarters in Al Ain.

The ceremony was attended by several senior UAE Armed Forces Officers.

Brigadier Amer Mohammed Al Neyadi, Commander of Zayed II Military College, delivered a speech on the occasion, stating the graduates spent six months of intensive training at the college, learning basic military sciences.

They were also trained in other locations, and their physical capacities and endurance were improved, he added, noting that their peers from Bahrain joined the training course.

Al Bowardi, accompanied by Al Neyadi, honored the outstanding students.