Hegseth demands West's backing on D-Day anniversary

PARIS - U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Saturday called on Western allies to provide greater support to Washington in defending peace and freedom, in a speech marking the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy.

"Peace is secured only through strength and its strength on both sides of the Atlantic, fortified by readiness, shared military capabilities, and an unwavering political will," said Hegseth at the U.S. war cemetery in Collville-sur-Mer.

"Our world is safer and more prosperous when the United States of America and our allies are strong, free and unapologetic in defense of our Western tradition of freedom."

Hegseth said "America will lead," but insisted that "capable allies must be right there with us, shoulder to shoulder in the breach when it matters."

"We stand by our allies, and we expect our allies capable and ready to stand alongside us," he added.

The politician - dubbed the secretary of war by U.S. President Donald Trump - argued that "much of the West" has grown "comfortable" since World War II.

"We forgot that freedom is not free. We forgot that peace is not wished into being. It is bought with purpose, with honor, and with strength," he insisted. "The men who landed on these beaches knew this."

Hegseth made a highly charged comparison between the Normandy landings in Nazi-occupied France - which began on June 6, 1944, and played a key role in the defeat of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich - and migrant crossings in the Mediterranean, which he labeled an "invasion."

"Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies," he said, highlighting landings in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria.

Hegseth was accompanied by his French counterpart, Catherine Vautrin, at the commemoration on Saturday.

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