Fabrice Leggeri, the former boss of EU border agency Frontex who will run for the far-right Rassemblement National in the European elections, criticised European migration policy while touring the French-Italian border on Monday (19 February), saying Europe should “regain control of its borders”.
Leggeri, the former head of the European border and coastguard agency, announced on Saturday (17 February) he was joining the Rassemblement National list for the European elections.
On Monday, Leggeri made his first trip as a candidate to Menton, a town in the south of France on the Italian border, with Jordan Bardella, the president of the Rassemblement National and the party’s head of list for the European elections.
“I am joining Jordan Bardella’s list because I want France and Europe to regain control of their borders. Frontex has been hijacked by the European Commission and we need to return it to its role as a border guard,” Leggeri said at the Menton border post.
Leggeri, who headed Frontex from 2015 to 2022, has been regularly accused by NGOs of tolerating the illegal refoulement of migrants. According to the German newspaper Spiegel, he was complicit in “pushbacks” – the rejection of migrants without examining their asylum applications.
Bardella told journalists that “Frontex must be redirected towards a mission to protect our borders and our civilisation, as Fabrice Leggeri wanted to do”.
Former EU border agency chief joins France's far-right RN
The former director of the EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, announced Saturday (17 February) he had joined France’s far-right National Rally (RN).
Bardella wrote to Darmanin
“European law prohibits France from fighting illegal immigration at its borders and protecting the French,” Bardella said on X on Sunday, explaining that he was going to Menton to question Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, to whom he sent an open letter.
He criticised the French government, which, in a decision handed down on 2 February, put an end to the “non-admission” system allowing illegal immigrants to be immediately returned to their country of origin.
In 2023, at the Franco-Italian border, the “non-admission” system made it possible to turn back 33,000 migrants out of the 44,000 individuals intercepted.
“Granting additional rights to individuals who wish to enter our country illegally deprives the French people of their collective right to live in security,” wrote Bardella.
From Menton, Bardella posted on X that “if Gérald Darmanin does not the decision limiting refusals of entry, the number of illegal migrants here in Menton, on the French-Italian border, will double”.
In an interview published on Sunday in Le Journal du Dimanche, Leggeri said the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum had enabled the European Commission to “encourage the influx of migrants”.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
Read more with Euractiv
Von der Leyen’s mammoth task: Make the centre holdAs European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen launches her bid for a second five-year term, she is likely to face a balancing act of keeping EU unity and the far-right at bay.
Source: euractiv.com
