PARIS – In a stirring speech during the D-Day anniversary observances on Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth drew a parallel between contemporary immigration by sea and the historical liberation of Europe during World War II. He cautioned that the freedoms secured by Allied forces could be fleeting if not actively safeguarded by current leaders.
Addressing attendees at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France, Hegseth marked the 82nd anniversary of the historic June 6, 1944, landings. He remarked, “Today, various European beaches face a different kind of storming by dangerous ideologies.”
He elaborated, “Spain, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria see boats and people arriving.”
He pressed further, questioning, “When will European capitals address this invasion? Or is it already too late?” He expressed hope, saying, “I pray not, and I believe not.”
While Hegseth refrained from explicitly mentioning immigration, his comments closely mirrored the Trump administration’s critiques of Europe regarding migration policies, border control, and what U.S. officials have described as the suppression of nationalist and far-right perspectives.
In a related development on Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office criticized U.S. Vice President JD Vance for attributing the murder of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old British student killed in Southampton, to immigration. It was pointed out that both Nowak and his assailant were British nationals.
In December, the Trump administration’s national security strategy warned that Europe faced the “prospect of civilizational erasure” and could become “unrecognizable” within 20 years.
