Defense Secretary urges Europe to boost defense

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a speech at a D-Day commemoration in Normandy on Saturday to urge European nations to bolster their conventional defense capabilities and to warn of what he described as an ideological invasion arriving on European shores. His remarks came during events marking the 82nd anniversary of the Allied landings that began the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

Speaking at the Normandy American Cemetery in Collevillesur-Mer, Hegseth stated that Europe must be the first to provide for its own conventional defense. He linked this need directly to a recently announced reduction in American troops stationed in Europe. During a meeting with French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin and others, he called on allies such as France to face up seriously to this reality and to show it through concrete progress. Vautrin responded by confirming that France was engaged in a rearmament drive.

In his cemetery address, Hegseth drew a parallel between the historic landings and contemporary challenges. Sadly, today different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies, he said. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and...