EU Border Agency Chief Fabrice Leggeri Offers Resignation

The head of the European Union’s Frontex border agency, Fabrice Leggeri, has offered his resignation, according to French and German sources.

French official Leggeri had resigned “following an investigation into his management of the agency by Olaf,” the European Anti-Fraud Office, the French source added, confirming press reports he was stepping down.

The agency’s board has yet to accept his resignation but a German government spokesman said at a regular press conference that he can confirm that Leggeri has offered his resignation” which “opens the possibility of a new start” for Frontex,

Olaf’s report into Leggeri, who has led Frontex since 2015, found he “did not follow procedures, was dishonest with the EU and managed staff badly,” according to French magazine Le Point.

Frontex has repeatedly been accused by aid groups of practising illegal “pushbacks” of migrants after they make it across EU borders — or of turning a blind eye when national authorities have done the same.

Greece’s land and sea borders with Turkey have been a major focus of such allegations.

On Wednesday, an investigation by French daily Le Monde and Lighthouse Reports found that Frontex recorded pushbacks in Greek waters between March 2020 and September 2021 as “operations to prevent departures (towards Europe), carried out in Turkish waters”.

Marked by repeated political scares over migrant arrivals in Europe, Leggeri’s seven years as Frontex chief have coincided with a major increase in resources for the agency.

It is set to be reinforced to 10,000 staff watching the EU’s external borders by 2027.