still in the year they are advanced age impossible. the overlooks just like the pride in their uh is the veteran's day. on june 6th, 1944. they were young soldiers, american canadian, british, and french with orders to push back the nazis many paid the ultimate price so that the free world could live another day. 80 years later, war has returned to europe. if we had to, would we could we would we have what it takes to d day. again. i'm pretty coughing. berlin. this is the day. the 3rd generation there are trial allied forces of the day did their duty. i always considered myself one of the lucky ones that survived, because so many of us your actions read confident and felt of. that's what

we recall with less than just comes to us. again and again across the decade. 3 nations, the stand together to oppose to democracy is never guaranteed. every generation must preserve or defended and fight for also coming up for 4 days, vote is across the european union are choosing a new european parliament. if the polls are accurate, there will be big games for the far right. some of these right wing and politicians are trying to sabotage the. the european calibration at that would be very helpful. doesn't make any sense to me, which our viewers watching on tv as in the united states and to all of you around the world. welcome. we begin to day remembering the day 80 years ago,

on june 6th 1944 more than a 150 allied soldiers begin the largest air land enabled invasion in the history of the world. on the french beaches named utah, omaha gold, juno and sword. their mission upon landing, fight, kill, and push back the nazis, and that is exactly what they did. thousands upon thousands losing their lives along the way. only one percent of the day veterans are still alive. many were in normandy, france today to remember the events from 80 years ago that changed the course of the war in europe. events that would also become the genesis of the world order that we know today. we have more now in this report. the onto the deck off the ship, veterans of the largest seaborne invasion history, return to the sands of omaha beach to commemorate and reflect on that momentous de

80 years ago. when they stormed out of land and craft or parachute it out of transport planes. to turn the tide of history while the guests of honor made it through the battle and went on to live remarkably long lives, many of their comrades in arms were killed on the beach by hitler's army. show grow, not old as we, that's a lift to grow age. so now we're, we know of the is condemned at the going down the sun and in the morning we will be remembered then we will make a group of us veterans received, frances highest order of merit. the legion of honor from french president emmanuel . i'm a chrome for their bravery of the year. you came

to join your thoughts with our own soldiers and to make friends a free nation. and you all back here today at home. if i may see. a green cranium president for load of me is a lensky, joined to the other leaders gathered on the beach and thrilled at least one admirer near the us presidential by to connect the deliberation of europe in the 1940s to the war and ukraine urging nato to take a lesson from the allied cooperation, but defeated nazi germany and the force congress. the allied forces of the day did their duty. now the question for us is, in our, our trial, well, we do ours. we're living at a time when democracy in more risk across the world. then

a point since the end of world war 2, essentially beaches were storm in 1944. now we have to ask ourselves, what we stand against charity, against gable guys, crushing brutality. they are and 1st the number of world war 2 veterans is dwindling. but their contribution to defeating fascism will forever be remembered by history. most of the day beds and still with this have lived very long lives. they are all now around the age of a 100, and they are still telling their story, the w's one and corresponded period boss introduces us to one of them tonight. the british veteran john roberts, the allied landings in normandy, the beginning of the end of nazi ruled. as

a young marine john rob this 4th at the front line. i have until the last on able to the ride love and trouble well being bombed a lot and from where we, where the whole beach became lit up. it was like fireworks non stop 5 work today. the veteran is 100 years old restaurant, but then he was only 20. it was only after the war that he fully understood the horrors, the extent of the destruction. i saw a porting, lock these other 2 to offer to think of. and yet, while almost getting married again, the images of destruction from ukraine for the veteran, they are terribly similar to those from his use from the 2nd world war. he is convinced that close cooperation with the nato has saved europe from war in recent

decades. john robot stuffed in the navy for almost 4 decades. most recently as re admiral working closely with other nato troops. to my mind, nato is the most important thing that we have uh your appeal nations must stick together. at the end of world war 2. i couldn't remember where to send you out your omega here speech. i'm saying that the savior of the or in the future will be for it to be together. and that's why i did not buy to leave europe. i beg you to remain because it was just as the allies stuck together against germany back then ne 2 and you must be strong and to the best account, a russia today says john roberts, so that an escalation like 80 years ago can be avoided. i think it's terrible that uh, my grandfather could be involved in the wall in 6 or 8 months time. that's world

war one on to everybody said this is the war to enroll to harm himself. the 2nd world war john roberts is determined to remind people of them, for as long as he can and to help connect the events from 80 years ago to the geo politics of the present. i'm pleased to welcome william hitchcock. he's the james madison, professor of history at the university of virginia. professor hitchcock is in new york times best selling author. his books include the age of eisenhower, america and the world. in the 1950s, before he became, he was president eisenhower service allied supreme commander. he was in charge on the day this professor is good to have you with this. um, i'd like if we could to stay with eisenhower for just a moment. and his thoughts on di da, you posted on x,

a quote from eisenhower. i'm going to pull that up and show our viewers. and it was from 10 years after d day 1954, then president eisenhower said, despite the losses and suffering involved on d date, read today, find in those experiences, reasons for hope and inspiration. they remind us, particularly of the accomplishments obtainable through close cooperation and friendship among free peoples and striving towards a common goal. a professor that was a republican president praising international cooperation, obviously comfortable with america's role as a global leader. would that fit today within the american presidential candidate say he was inspired by the day? well, uh, president biden is running for re election and he would say that he was inspired by the day, and he did say that today on june 6 a while visiting normandy, but as an hour would not fit in today's republican party. obviously,

the republican party has changed a great deal. it is much more like the republican party, the 1930s, which was the isolationist, at least large portions of it were. and they had to learn in fighting world war 2, that cooperation alliances, friendship hope, inspiration, those words, for eisenhower, as quote that you showed those things are what inspire people to make great sacrifices. and so it's the parties, they've kind of traded roles when it comes to being global, looking, as opposed to being an isolationist, what about the american people? how would you describe the american people today compared to 1944 as well? of course, we're a big country. it varies a lot, but i think one thing that's peculiar is that americans are fairly well traveled. we, we've seen the world, we've travelled around the world. many americans were born overseas in other countries, in a sense, we're more worldly. then we were in 1944, 45,

but we have lost that commitment to the sort of, i'm cynical, ideas of sacrifice, of commitment, of a cause, fighting for democracy and freedom. one of the things that eisenhower is generation understood and they have to learn it the hard way. is that something like democracy or piece or, or freedom, those things are not normal. they have to be thought for. they have to be defended all the way along, and once you've achieved them, you still have to do the job of defending them. and i think to a large extent, we've been very fortunate in united states since 1945. we've gotten a little bit lazy in terms of given rather than taking an i thing what 1944 and the 80 of anniversary reminds us is you have to sacrifice on behalf of freedom. you have those soldiers on the day. they belong to a generation characterized by

a commitment to community, if you will, offer one and one for all that doesn't describe our world today, does it? well, i don't want to go too cynical because i think that we see in, in the united states anyway, a great deal of public spiritedness. and at times she mounted terry and work relief work, helping in your community, working in the soup kitchen, a volunteer and giving to charity americans still do these things and significant numbers working through the village as organizations. but sacrificing on behalf of others in other countries in a shared struggle to advance democracy. that's something we have very last, a little bit of, of our, of our former focus on that project of building democracy in the world. so that we can encourage peace and build friendships, it's hard work. it takes, you know, giving away things to people that you may not know or to countries you may not fully understand. building international friendship is, is hard. and,

and i think um, i think by and large americans are actually very altruistic and optimistic. but we've, we've lost the habit of making friends with, with people who don't necessarily speak our language or don't necessarily look like us. i think leaders can make the difference. and guiding us back to that sort of shared sense of shared community if you will in the world. yeah, you're speaking of leaders of we saw in, in the report earlier the business, this really moving moment today. when a did a veteran shook hands with the ukranian. president, modem is zalinski and he told him, you said you are the savior of the people. and it may just wonder, you know, what, what was this image telling us? what we know that we've, we've been more into that this generation, this greatest generation will soon be gone. and with them the, the personal connection to the day. i'm what does that, what does zalinski represent in your opinion? i mean,

is america as committed to ukraine as it should be in the eyes of the greatest generation? well know what is the simple answer it is, and i think we know the great the, the great crisis of our time in the united states is that we have politicized foreign policy. we didn't used to do that as much in the cold war short, there was positions of specific policy choices. it'd be more, for example, the list, but the country. but in, in, in waging the cold war, americans largely allow their leaders to set the agenda and try to support it. and now everything is polemical. everything is part of that. so if you're for one thing, then the other part is against it doesn't matter what it is and that has come at a great cost in the ukraine crisis. i mean, we desperately need to support ukraine struggle. this is a country that a better than normal times americans would embrace its. it's fighting for democracy . it's a fighting against a large bully. it's fighting against a tyrant and it's canary in the coal mine, if we don't help ukraine. of course,

the rest of the eastern and central europe is threatened. so there's a lot at stake here, and i think really we need our leaders to make that case more fully. we have to find a bipartisan consensus around it and continue to support that struggle. it's our struggle, it's those who believe in democracy, those who believe in cooperation, that's what, that's what's at stake and, and that conflict. what happens if we have a 2nd, donald trump presidency? our reporters who were in france, they said that america's allies are truly worried about what could happen to need or what could happen to the trans atlantic world. if donald trump gets elected, he gets his way as well. personally, i think i think they're right to worry. i mean, we already had a donald trump presidency, so we know that he can be a wreck. he can, you know, he's a boy in a china shop. he's unpredictable. if i were to place my money on it,

i would say that nato is in jeopardy. american membership and natal may be in jeopardy. i would also say that the united states commitment to taiwan would be put in jeopardy. so we might have 2 nuclear great powers brush and china advancing and winning on 2 fronts in europe and asia, the same 2 fronts that the united states helped to, to win of the 2nd world war asia and europe. so i can't overstate how important the 2024 election is, but also the geo political situation we're in is very, very fragile. and we really desperately need strong leadership to sustain nato and the western community. um, cuz we could go back to 1939 all over again. professor william hitchcock, we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today on this 80th anniversary of the day. it is a pleasure. thank you so much for all it is a another super sized election voters in the netherlands today kicked off the

e u parliamentary elections. now after india, this is the world's 2nd biggest exercise in democracy. and the dutch, they are traditionally the 1st to cast their ballots in these 4 days, a voting citizens of the european union will choose a new parliament, and the poem suggest big gains for the far right. w 's jack, parents reports one votes, cost these people in, i'm saddam, as some of the 1st of the nearly 400000000 people eligible in the you to place the ballots over the next 4 days in the european elections. most important for me is the economy and the difference between the rich and the border of the in that you know, it's well the entire and then for me is most important. i think think pen european mets or so climate change and immigration matters. so i think it's very important

to foods, jobs, climate change, health security, migration, a recent euro barometer studies show. these are indeed the most important voting topics for people across the whole of the u. vs here in the netherlands, have been doing lots of docs in the last few years. just 6 months ago. that was a national election. we saw the fall right party when the most seats for the 1st time in does history. i must expect it to be replicated again in this european parliament selections. in fact, the far right is expected to make gains across the the netherlands gets the t one seats in the european parliament. there is $720.00 in total. 027, e u member countries. posters save the size of the elections. come make it complicated to predict the result. once lights, it is very difficult to bring together all the data from $27.00 member states into one projection to understand how the european parliament will look like. we will

most likely on sunday and monday understand how the european parliament will look like in the future. until then we have to deal with about 15000 candidates, 600 different lists and individual candidates across europe, and about 200 to 10 parties that will enter the european parliament. these european elections will also be judged on how many pallets the cost vote a ton i is stopping the load normally at the arrived 50 percent. most d u countries will vote at the weekend and a clear picture with only a mode. once all the results are delivered, what do you have use jack period. he felt that report. he joins me now from amsterdam. good evening to you, jack. let's start where you are. the netherlands. um, what do the exit polls tell us tonight? as well, by the looks of things the far right party of got billed as one so heavily in the election in november 2023. it doesn't look like they've done quite as well as they perhaps would predicted they could have it was predicted. they could have taken 10

or perhaps 11 seats of the 31, hardly the exit polls, the saying maybe 7 or 8. but it also looks like the green less the lions that exist here in the netherlands. they may have got 7 or 8 seats as well, so it will have been quite a good showing for them. it's quite interesting to be honest, the natalie is, is the 1st country, the voters in these european parliament selections of old 27. because frankly, the does electro system is one of the most complicated and with one of the most of the biggest spreads of all of the co owner of the countries in the u. but it does look like that has been a significant uptake for that in the fall right. policy, the policy for freedom here in the netherlands. but also it was interesting about these acts. it poses, it looks like that games have actually galvanized from another fall right. policy that starts in the european parliament for the last 5 years. well, j is 6 months ago in national elections, the far right pulled off

a shocker. it became the biggest party and in parliament there. and what makes the far right popular in the netherlands, and i guess i could say what makes it so popular elsewhere across the u at the mill? yeah, i mean, this is the big question. why are these far right policies such as a couple of reasons for in the 1st is the one in all of the far right. politicians in your have managed to do is to make themselves more palatable to remove from that reputation, the sort of connections with fascism and racism that they've been paid with for many years. and what they do is they come paying on on manifesto use that say that they will protect the national interest of the people in each of the countries that certainly what had built is here in the netherlands. dogs, as was marine, the pen does in frauds. they've tuned i'm what's called a your skepticism. so they don't look so much is trying to remove that countries from the european union for which they have come,

painful for decades before having same breakfast. and what happens to the united kingdom often leaving the european union? many of those politicians no longer go down that road. instead they say they're going to come paint against you laws from the inside laws like green laws, which they say in which a lot of farmers say have affected that business is negatively. that's certainly one of the come pain points here in the netherlands in your report. jack, we heard people include jobs, the economy, and migration, immigration as their main concerns. and these issues do they, do they play to the far white's streets? yeah, they, they certainly do. and that green the green deal, this massive wave of you know, that came in and over the last few years, for instance, forcing foam is to use parts of that line to re grow nature. for instance, here in the netherlands. does it?

here's control vesee on the minds of nitrogen that said it must be reduced to nitrogen emissions from farming. and that's been something that's been really concerning for farmers, but also climate activists say. listen, we need to make sure that we're reducing those numbers. you'll remember 5 years ago we was started talking about the green waiving the european elections, massive surge of green, that'd be peace entering because of the climate protests the the head preceded the a w's jack harris with the latest. as these big e. u. elections get underway tonight in amsterdam, in the netherlands. jack, thank you for the day. it continues online. you'll find this on x, also known as twitter and youtube, that dw knew she can follow me at brent golf tv. and remember whatever happens between now and then, tomorrow it is another day we will leave you to night with a tribute to the veterans of the day, the french president awarding the legion of honor to us veterans who helped

liberate his country. we'll see you tomorrow. so the china, the, the, the, the, the

movers, you know, the biggest news on ship any additional to the,

the, the, the new will tell you, we are happy. the boxing was the story. we have a getting a visa is more difficult than finding gold hosted to use the dream force and for the future in the stories industries that are being discussed across the country. news african next on d w. and this week,

around 370000000 people in the 27 countries of the you will be bouncing in the european parliament. the election was complex own found in brussels as being plenty of notice tension among keep politicians. we talk to 2 of these elections. so the have a decides to follow the solving of a conflict the same 60 minutes on d w. the goal is ali john packed hash one and 79 of everything is simply designed so i can do this which gives me extreme freedom meals this time. devin townsend really stays on the bu dish mice and i've never thought i'm

giving up but lives sometimes thought that i just can't take this anymore. the flux really seem to keep going on the sound of simple stuff. june 13th on dw, the. this is deed of news, africa coming up on the program, south africa's elections have not yet, but the new government, but come the process so far be seen as a win for democracy. as the ruling african national congress reaches out to the opposition in the hopes of forming a government, we hear reflections from south africans on the states of that democracy. also coming up the migrants trying to find their way to europe despite the 200000000 euro efforts to stop them. we hear from one woman in more atanya.