U.S. President Joe Biden is to give a keynote speech in the northern French region of Normandy on Friday.

The keynote speech will defend freedom and democracy. It is part of a visit to France that includes commemorative events for D-Day.

According to the White House, Biden is planning a speech on the power of democracy and the fight against aggressors and autocrats against the historic backdrop of Pointe du Hoc on the northern French coast.

Pointe du Hoc is a stretch of coast in Normandy where Allied troops landed 80 years ago, on June 6, 1944, now known as D-Day, which marked the beginning of the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi rule.

The Allied forces at the time consisted mainly of U.S., British, Canadian, Polish and French troops.

Mr Biden had already used a D-Day commemoration at a U.S. military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer in northern France earlier on Thursday to call for the defence of democracy.

“We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago, they never fade,” Mr Biden said. He cited the Russian war against Ukraine as an example.

Mr Biden’s speech at Pointe du Hoc is not part of the official D-Day celebrations but is likely to be aimed at a U.S. audience in particular.

Mr Biden is in a tight race with Donald Trump for a second term in the White House.

Mr Biden is in France for a visit which will last for several days. After his stops in Normandy, he is scheduled to be received as a state guest by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday.

(dpa/NAN)