Hegseth Warns Europe About “Invasion” as Migration Pact Is Coming into Force

European countries are just days away from having to fully implement the EU’s flagship migration management legislation on June 12th, known as the Migration Pact, often criticized for forcing migrant quotas upon member states and legalizing irregular entries instead of preventing them. 

During the 82nd anniversary celebrations of D-Day in France, Europe was yet again reminded by Washington that if it were to continue down this path, this modern “invasion” by illegal migrants will soon erode every piece of freedom the heroes of WWII fought for.

“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Spain, Italy, Greece, Bulgaria—boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion?” U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth asked in his D-Day address at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial on Saturday.

Since the American-led Allied landing in Normandy in 1944, a “suicide mission” that ultimately led to the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany, “much of the West grew comfortable” and “forgot that freedom is not free, […] but is bought with purpose, honor, and strength,” Hegseth remarked, before tying it all to Europe’s current struggle with mass migration.

“Is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not. The men who fought and died here restored freedom to Europe. That freedom must be maintained by this generation of leaders and war fighters, or what they fought for, was merely temporary!” Hegseth warned. 

“As our great President Ronald Reagan once said, freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction,” he added. “You don’t pass it to the next generation in the bloodstream. It must be defended by each and every generation.”

The timing is not accidental: the EU’s controversial Migration Pact, over a decade in the making, is set to come into force later this week. 

While Brussels tries its hardest to present the Pact as an all-encompassing solution to every problem tied to illegal migration, patriotic parties across the continent have been warning for years that all it will do is take away member states’ right to effective border control and force them to take in a preset number of asylum seekers every year from other EU countries.

Between inefficient border management and lacking deportation rules, the so-called migrant quota system—“Solidarity Mechanism” in EUspeak—is by far the most controversial aspect of the Pact. It rules that 30,000 illegal migrants should be redistributed across EU member states every year, with countries having the option to admit and accommodate them or pay €20,000 per migrant. 

While the initial 30,000 number may seem low, there’s a catch. Once implemented, the EU Commission may increase this number at will, year after year, or at any time when a frontline country (like Italy or Greece) experiences a mass increase in arrivals. 

Another stated goal of the Migration Pact is to establish as many legal pathways for third-world immigration as possible, which, the Commission says, is meant to deter migrants from trying to enter illegally. In other words, defeating illegal mass migration by legalizing it. 

In the eyes of the average European, the result is the same: the inevitable erosion of European culture and identity, with no member state sovereignty to help countries stand against the Brussels-mandated multicultural shift.

No wonder why a new citizen-led initiative demanding a radically new approach is picking up steam fast online. The Save Europe Act has already been signed by over 275,000 Europeans in just two weeks. Once it reaches one million, the EU Commission has an obligation to at least consider its demands—the more signatures, the more chance anything from it will make it into legislation as well.

Among others, the Save Europe Act, endorsed by several European right-wing politicians, demands a temporary halt to most non-Western immigration channels until social cohesion concerns are addressed; a major reform of the EU’s migration and asylum system with stronger border protection and effective return policies; the immediate deportation of all rejected asylum seekers currently living illegally in the EU; and reducing the pull-factor of overly generous welfare benefits and other incentives.

In general, the signatories call upon the EU Commission “to recognize and protect the inalienable right of Europe’s native peoples to preserve their collective identity, heritage, and way of life, in accordance with the principles of national sovereignty and self-determination.”