The US secretary of war’s remarks come as Brussels prepares to roll out its most ambitious migration reforms in years
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth used a D-Day ceremony in Normandy to warn that Europe is under a new form of “invasion,” urging EU leaders to confront migration before it’s too late.
Speaking on the anniversary of the June 6, 1944 Allied landings in France, Hegseth said, “different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies” in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Bulgaria, where “boats and men arrive.”
“When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not,” he added.
D-Day marks the beginning of the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi rule. The troops who landed on Normandy’s beaches were not invading Europe in the sense used by modern immigration critics; they arrived to free territories occupied by Nazi Germany.
Hegseth’s remarks echo a broader narrative in the Trump administration linking migration to cultural change, security risks, and the erosion of national identity. The administration’s 2025 National Security Strategy warned that Europe faces “civilizational erasure” driven by migration.
US President Donald Trump has pursued a tough immigration agenda at home, expanding deportation efforts and high-profile ICE operations. Critics have raised concerns over due process and the treatment of migrant communities.
Hegseth’s comments come as the EU prepares to implement its most ambitious migration overhaul in years. On June 1, EU lawmakers and member-state representatives agreed in principle on new rules aimed at speeding up the deportation of rejected asylum seekers. The measures are designed to complement the Migration and Asylum Pact, which reforms asylum processing, border screening, and responsibility-sharing among member states.
EU institutions and migration experts estimate that only 20-30% of people ordered to leave the bloc actually do. The European Commission says immigration is needed to address labor shortages, with the EU workforce shrinking by around 1 million people a year.
The EU’s migrant population reached a record 64.2 million in 2025, including 46.7 million people born outside the bloc, according to a recent Berlin-based study using Eurostat and UN data.
Greek Migration Minister Thanos Plevris warned last month that the EU could be on the verge of a new migrant crisis, with more than half a million people waiting in Libya alone to cross into Europe.
