Pete Hegseth, US Secretary of Defense, delivered a speech at the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings, a fierce assault against European nations. He likened the crisis of sea migration to an "invasion" driven by dangerous ideologies, warning that if European leaders fail to defend the freedoms fought for by their ancestors, these values may be lost in the future.
Pete Hegseth spoke at the 82nd anniversary ceremony of D-Day at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, northwestern France. This site marks where Allied forces landed to liberate Europe from Nazi occupation in 1944.
However, Hegseth used this historic occasion to sharply criticize European immigration policies, stating, "It is sad that today the beaches of Europe are being invaded by differing and dangerous ideologies. Whether on the shores of Spain, Italy, Greece, or Bulgaria, boats and people are arriving. The question is: when will European capitals take action against this invasion? Or is it already too late? I pray and believe it is not too late."
Although Hegseth did not explicitly use the word "migrants" in his speech, his remarks connected sea migration with wartime invasion. This reflects the stance of the administration under President Donald Trump, which has frequently criticized Europe for lax border control, censored nationalist groups, and issued warnings in the December National Security Strategy that Europe could "lose its current structure within 20 years" and face "civilizational collapse" due to this issue.
Tensions between the US and Europe have intensified after US Vice President JD Vance blamed the 2025 stabbing death of 18-year-old British student Henry Novak in Southampton on an "invasion of a massive number of migrants," stating that anger was the only response to this situation.
The UK Prime Minister’s Office immediately condemned the US Vice President’s remarks as "interference in our democracy," clarifying that the victim’s family requested not to have their son's death used as a tool for division. Furthermore, the UK Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the assailant, Vikram Dikva, who stabbed the student, was born in the United Kingdom and held British citizenship by birth, not a migrant as claimed by US leadership.
The sea migration crisis into Europe peaked in 2015, with the United Nations reporting over one million people crossing the Mediterranean. However, recent data from April 2025 to March 2026 shows 169,341 arrivals by sea in the UK, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Cyprus, with unauthorized crossings to the UK accounting for 23% of the total.
Between 1 January and 3 June 2026, 9,142 people crossed the English Channel by small boats from France to the UK, a 38% decrease compared to the same period the previous year.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer previously responded to President Donald Trump’s criticism at the UN that Europe was "going to hell" due to poor migrant control. Starmer called Trump’s comments "inaccurate," but acknowledged the challenges, emphasizing that the UK is seriously cracking down on small boat people smuggling networks, in contrast to the Trump administration’s domestic policy, which focused on daily mass arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement starting early 2025.
. . .BBC/Associated Press