The boss of the European coastguard agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, presented his resignation on Thursday, learned Agence France-Presse (AFP), Friday, April 29. This must be “reviewed by the board of directors” during the day, said this source familiar with the matter.
“I can confirm that he has tendered his resignation” to the board of directors, and this “opens the possibility of a new beginning” for Frontex, said a German government spokesman in Berlin when interviewed at a regular press conference.
Mr. Leggeri’s proposed resignation “follows an investigation into his management of the agency by OLAF”, the European Anti-Fraud Office, said the source, confirming press reports. The agency completed a non-public report in February 2022, the result of a year of investigation.
Accusations of illegal pushbacks of migrants
Executive Director of Frontex since 2015, Fabrice Leggeri was targeted by an OLAF report which, according to Pointaccuses him in substance of “not having followed the procedures, [de] being disloyal to the European Union, and poor personal management”.
But this investigation comes against a backdrop of regular accusations in recent years, particularly from NGOs, of illegal deportation of migrants (known as “push backs”) and complacency towards the Greek authorities, for example, on brutal deportations to Turkey.
A survey of World and its “Lighthouse Reports” partners also demonstrates that between March 2020 and September 2021, Frontex listed illegal returns of migrants, who arrived in Greek waters, as simple operations of “prevention at the start” carried out in Turkish waters.
In seven years at the head of Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri has accompanied the strengthening of the agency, which has been considerably “muscled”, and whose staff should reach 10,000 coast guards and border guards by 2027.