US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has claimed that European nations are facing an ‘invasion’ by migrants when the statistics across Europe show a sharp decline in arrivals by small boat
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has falsely claimed that European nations are facing an “invasion” of migrants – a day after Vice-President JD Vance linked the murder of Henry Nowak to what he called a “mass invasion of migrants”.
Hegseth made the extraordinary remarks during a D-Day anniversary event in Normandy, 82 years after Allied forces landed on beaches to liberate Nazi-occupied France in 1944.
“Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies,” Hegseth said. “Beaches in Spain, in Italy, in Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion?”
His remarks come despite official figures showing irregular migration has fallen sharply since its peak during the 2015 refugee crisis. In Greece, arrivals by small boat have fallen from 856,723 in 2015 to 41,696 in 2025 – a 95 per cent drop. In Italy, arrivals have fallen from 153,842 in 2015 to 66,316 in 2025 – a 56.9 per cent decrease.
In the UK, net migration has also fallen to its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic and is now 82 per cent below its record peak in 2023. It stood at an estimated 171,000 in the year to December 2025 – down nearly half (48.3 per cent) from 331,000 the year to December 2024.
The latest figure is the lowest figure for any 12-month period since the year to March 2021, when it stood at 132,000. Net migration is also down 82 per cent from the record high of 944,000 in the year to March 2023.
Around 36,000 people arrived by small boat in the year ending May 31, 2026 – 13 per cent less than in the same period the year before, according to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.
Hegseth’s remarks came after US Vice-President JD Vance wrote on X on Friday that there should be “righteous anger” in response to the murder of Henry Nowak, which he partly blamed on “the mass invasion of migrants”.
His comments triggered a response from Downing Street, which hit out at “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets” over Mr Nowak’s case.
The 18-year-old student was handcuffed by police officers as he lay dying after his killer, Vickrum Digwa, claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack. The Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed that Digwa was born in Britain.
A No10 spokesperson said: “In recent days we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.
“The Nowak family are grieving after Henry’s horrific murder. They have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We should be respecting their wishes. Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”
Vance’s comments came after the US State Department linked “two-tier policing” to Mr Nowak’s death, echoing the comment made by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
The US Secretary of State said: “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”
Downing Street rejected “any suggestion of two-tier policing across the United Kingdom”.