On Feb. 17, Frenchman Fabrice Leggeri shocked the European elites by announcing he would run as an MEP for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in the upcoming EU parliament elections. In an exclusive interview with Remix News, the former director of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) from 2015 to 2022, explains what led him to join Le Pen’s party.
What could make a former Frontex director decide to run in the European elections, and to do so with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally?
As you know, I was director of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for over seven years. I was at the heart of the European machinery for managing external borders and immigration, and thus of the fight against illegal immigration.
As a result, I am a witness and a key player who has realized that urgent action is needed to counteract the European Commission’s negative action on migration. I came to realize that the European Commission didn’t see illegal immigration as a problem but as a project.
I became particularly aware of the seriousness of this fact with the arrival of the von der Leyen Commission at the end of 2019 and in particular, within this von der Leyen Commission, of European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.