'As we see more autocrats in the world there is a reason to fight'

ITV News Europe Editor James Mates sat down with the US ambassador to the UK as the 80th anniversary of D-Day approaches

Words by ITV News Foreign Producer Natasha Tierney

World leaders will join veterans in Normandy this week to mark 80-years since the D-Day landings - the Allied military operation that began the liberation of western Europe from the Nazis, and cemented the UK's enduring alliance with the United States.

In an interview ahead of the anniversary, the US ambassador to the UK spoke to ITV News on why this is a moment about much more than just remembering the past.

"It's so important - they were fighting for freedom, for all of us. We're still living proof that their sacrifice meant something," said Ambassador Jane Hartley.

With Europe's security now once again under threat from Putin's war in Ukraine, the lessons - and mistakes - of that time, are more poignant than ever.

"We have to keep remembering that, especially as we see more autocrats in the world. There is a reason to fight."

On the 70th D-Day anniversary in 2014, Vladimir Putin had just invaded Crimea, yet controversially attended events in Normandy as a guest of honour.

"I do think that if we knew then what we know now, we might say we should have been stronger.

"It's really important Ukraine wins this war. If you look at autocrats, or dictators, if they have victory they don't often stop. Why would they stop if they're succeeding?"

Much has been speculated about what another Donald Trump presidency could mean for US foreign policy, and, in particular, its decades long role as a key ally of European security.

"I don't usually comment on a Trump administration, but I will comment on Biden in that Biden does seek to work with our allies. He does seek an international coalition. Will Trump do that? I don't know.

"No one country can do it alone. I would hope the Trump administration would see that, but I don't know them."

On whether the so-called "special relationship" - or as Ambassador Hartley calls it, the "essential relationship" - will last into the coming decades, she is more convinced.

"I believe in my country. I believe we will always be up in front for democracy, for freedom. America stands for democracy and freedom."

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