accused of having turned a blind eye to abuses by EU members, Fabrice Leggeri denounces “political exploitation”

Accused of having turned a blind eye to abuses committed by members of the European Union, Fabrice Leggeri, former director of the Frontex agency and now candidate for the National Rally (RN) in the European elections, defends himself Thursday February 29 on France Inter and denounces “political instrumentalization which gives credence to the idea that we cannot control borders”. At the head of the agency controlling European borders for seven years, Fabrice Leggeri resigned in 2022 following a disciplinary investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office into his management of the agency (Olaf).

According to a damning report from Olaf, Frontex had knowledge of illegal return of migrants carried out by the Greek coast guard and had co-financed illegal pushbacks of migrants. Fabrice Leggeri strongly denies these accusations. He judges “fake” to say that he “did not cooperate with the fundamental rights monitors”. The former boss of Frontex accuses them of being “activists inside the agency”. For Fabrice Leggeri, “if the European Union really wants political maturity and political responsibility, we must stop putting activists within the agencies responsible for guarding the borders.”

To clear his name, the former director of Frontex also mentions “two preliminary investigations” : “An investigation by the Frontex board concluded in February 2021 that there was no evidence in relation to all these accusations” And “the European Parliament concluded in July 2021 that we could not establish this”, he assures. Fabrice Leggeri uses these accusations to justify in a certain way his joining the National Rally, denouncing a form of pressure from NGOs.

“What I saw in my European functions is too serious and forces me to intervene in politics and get involved,” he says. The former director of Frontex considers that the National Rally is “the only party in France which has the courage to make a lucid diagnosis on immigration issues” and that “has the capacity to govern France”. “It is also the only party which, in the European Parliament, is in opposition to the Europe of Ursula von der Leyen, which is the Europe of Emmanuel Macron”, he adds. Placed third on Jordan Bardella’s list for the European elections, Fabrice Leggeri assures that his poaching can “attract many senior civil servants and other officials”.