“A grotesque folly.” Pete Hegseth's D-Day speech on immigration from Europe, heavily criticized
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been accused by historians and human rights activists of “grotesque nonsense” and desecration of the memory of the soldiers who landed on the beaches of Normandy after he tried to link immigration to the D-Day anniversary, saying Europe was facing another “invasion” of its shores, The Guardian reports.
Speaking on Saturday in Normandy, north-west France, to mark 82 years since the D-Day landings, Pete Hegseth took advantage of this symbolic moment, which marks the liberation of north-west Europe during the Second World War, to reiterate the long-standing criticisms of the American administration towards European immigration policies, reports News.ro.
“Unfortunately, today, various European beaches are invaded by different and dangerous ideologies,” Pete Hegseth told those gathered at the American military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer.
“Boats and people are arriving on the beaches of Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria. When will European capitals take action against this invasion, or is it already too late? I pray it won't be and I don't think so,” he said.
“The people who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe,” added Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor. “This freedom must be maintained by the current generation of leaders and fighters, otherwise what they defended was only temporary.”
“An obscene desecration of the memory of those who landed on the beaches of Normandy”
The statements were quickly condemned on social networks.
English historian, writer and television presenter Simon Schama described them as “a special kind of disgust: a mixture of historical ignorance, grotesque stupidity and ludicrous arrogance”.
Schama added: “As if the anger of ordinary people against immigration is somehow superior to the war against the Third Reich and gives this unknown from the world of comics the right to preach to the real heroes.”
From Jerusalem, Daniel Seidemann, an Israeli lawyer specializing in human rights, said: “This is an obscene desecration of the memory of those who landed on the beaches of Normandy and, above all, of those who fell in the line of duty.”
Anders Åslund, a Swedish economist and former senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, contrasted these claims with Pete Hegseth's subsequent statements regarding US support for its allies. “What nonsense!” he wrote on social networks. “”We stand with our allies!” No, you are not. You just attacked them. Immigration policies are internal matters”.
Åslund also said that Hegseth's statements are particularly “nonsensical” given his recent decision not to attend a major NATO meeting and Donald Trump's promises to reduce the number of troops in Europe. “Doesn't Hegseth know that by far the most unreliable 'ally' is the United States?” he said.
Hegseth's overemphasis on EU migration joins comments made by other US officials, including Trump, who have consistently sought to criticize the impact of migration on the continent, despite the fact that the US has a higher proportion of foreign-born residents than the EU.
Hours before Hegseth's speech, US Vice President JD Vance also weighed in on the issue with a social media post in which he blamed immigration for the murder of Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old British student who was stabbed in Britain. Nowak's killer, a British-born Sikh, was convicted of murder and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 21 years.
