Published on
06/06/2026 - 15:02 GMT+2
"Europe must be the first to provide for its own conventional defence", said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on his arrival in Normandy on Saturday. He is taking part in commemorations marking the 82nd anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings.
During a meeting attended by, among others, France's Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin, Hegseth called on "allies such as France to face up seriously to this reality and to show it through concrete progress".
On a trip to Singapore at the end of May, the US defence secretary had already reproached Europeans for having "for too long" ignored calls to strengthen their defences.
