Former head of Frontex to stand for far-right National Rally in European elections

The former director of the EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, has announced that he has joined France's far-right National Rally and will stand for the party in European elections in June.

Fabrice Leggeri at Frontex headquarters in Warsaw in November 2021. AFP - JANEK SKARZYNSKI

Leggeri, who resigned from Frontex in 2022 while under investigation by the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF, said he had joined the National Rally's list for the European elections set to take place across the EU from 6 to 9 June.

In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche Sunday newspaper, he said: "The RN has a concrete plan and the capacity to carry it out," he told the Journal du Dimanche Sunday newspaper.

"We are determined to combat the migratory submersion, which the European Commission and the Eurocrats do not consider a problem, but rather a project: I can testify to this," he told the paper.

🔴 Les attaques subies et les pressions politiques confirment la nécessité de s'opposer à l'UE. La Commission européenne encourage la submersion migratoire, avec @J_Bardella et @FabriceLeggeri, nous agirons pour protéger notre souveraineté et nos frontières.#VivementLe9Juin pic.twitter.com/kjdADpQ1xp

— Rassemblement National (@RNational_off) February 18, 2024

Fraud allegations at Frontex

Leggeri, a 55-year-old French civil servant, led Frontex from 2015 to 2022 before resigning.

"Today, I am choosing to put my experience and expertise at the service of the French," he wrote on X.

"Leading Frontex for almost seven years and working for the state for around 30 years – notably in security and immigration – makes this decision coherent," he added.

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Opinion polls suggest that the European elections will bring major gains for the far right, and Leggeri is number three on the National Rally's list.

During his tenure at the head of Frontex, Leggeri, a figurehead for impenetrable European frontiers, was frequently accused of tolerating illegal "pushbacks" of migrants.

French magazine Le Point reported that OLAF's confidential report into Leggeri found he "did not follow procedures, was dishonest with the EU and managed staff badly".