US DEFENCE Secretary Pete Hegseth has accused European countries of allowing an “invasion” by migrants during a D-Day anniversary speech in France.  

Mr Hegseth, speaking on Saturday at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer during commemorations of the 82nd anniversary of the June 6 1944, landings, claimed that today “different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies.”

“Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive,” he said.

“When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late?” he said. “I pray not, and I believe not.”

Mr Hegseth did not use the word immigration, but his remarks echoed broader criticism by US President Donald Trump’s administration over migration and border controls in Europe.

On Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office condemned US Vice-President JD Vance for claiming that immigration was to blame for the murder of 18-year-old student Henry Nowak in Southampton. The killer was British.

In December, the Trump administration’s national security strategy asserted that Europe faces the “prospect of civilisational erasure” and could become “unrecognisable” within 20 years.