In Europe they were amazed: the unusual speech of the senior on Remembrance Day

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attracted a lot of attention yesterday (Saturday) when he used his speech at a ceremony to mark the 82nd anniversary of the invasion of Normandy to sharply criticize the immigration policies of European countries and warn against what he called the “invasion” of dangerous ideas into the continent.

Hesseth spoke at the American cemetery in Normandy in northwestern France, as part of the commemoration of the Allied invasion on June 6, 1944, the largest naval military operation in history, during which tens of thousands of soldiers from the United States, Great Britain and Canada landed on the shores of France to begin a campaign to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation. During his speech, Hesseth compared the historical invasion of the beaches of Normandy with the phenomenon of immigration to Europe today.

“Unfortunately, today other European shores are being attacked by other dangerous ideologies,” he said. “Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and people are arriving. When will the capitals of Europe do something about this invasion? Or maybe it’s already too late?”

According to him, over the years, some European countries have become “too comfortable” in relation to the freedoms that were obtained at a heavy price during the Second World War. He emphasized that “freedom is not free” and warned that the current generation of leaders and military personnel must continue to protect it.

“The people who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe,” Hesseth said. “This freedom must be preserved by the current generation of leaders and fighters, otherwise what they fought for is only temporary.”

His words fit in with the aggressive line being led by the Trump administration regarding immigration, both in the US and in other countries, including those seen as allies of the US. The American government considers the enforcement of immigration laws a central component of its internal policy, and requested additional budgets amounting to billions of dollars for the enforcement bodies.

Hesseth is not the only American official who has recently voiced criticism of European immigration policy. A day earlier, Vice President JD Vance caused an uproar after linking the December murder of 18-year-old British student Henry Novak to what he called a “mass invasion of immigrants.” The British government condemned the remarks, and emphasized that Novak’s family requested that his death not be used to create another division in society.

In his speech in Normandy, Geseth also expanded on the issue of European security and called on the countries of the continent to increase their investments in defense. He said the US would continue to lead, but noted that allies must be ready and able to stand by Washington when needed.

According to him, all the countries that participated in the Normandy invasion “carried the burden” in common, and he called on the European allies to show a similar commitment even today.

On the sidelines of the ceremony, Hesseth met with the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Catherine Waterne. According to the Pentagon statement, the two discussed the need for a broader burden sharing among the allies and the strengthening of Europe’s defense capabilities. The Pentagon said that the United States emphasized to France the need for NATO countries to assume more central responsibility for the conventional defense of the continent, among other things by increasing defense budgets, strengthening defense industries and deploying combat-ready military forces.

Hesseth’s unusual speech at a memorial ceremony dedicated to one of the founding events of World War II illustrates once again the depth of the dispute between Washington and some of the European capitals over the issue of immigration, an issue that has become one of the main political debates on the continent in recent years, and is directly related to the strengthening of right-wing parties in many countries.