The European Commission’s home affairs tsar Ylva Johansson is closer to pro-mass migration NGOs than to the Member States she is meant to serve, the former head of the European Union’s Frontex border agency has claimed.
Fabrice Leggeri, who resigned his position as the head of the organisation in 2022 only to later become an MEP for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), told Brussels Signal that the EC led by President Ursula von der Leyen has been soft on migration and has viewed Frontex as an organisation tasked with helping migrants rather than protecting Europe’s borders.
“Officially, the European Union and the Commission say that they want to protect the borders against illegal migration,” he told Head of News Justin Stares in a video interview.
“But in practice, I realise that there is some disagreement among some of these institutions … the Commission, in particular the Commissioner Ylva Johansson, in charge of migration and home affairs, was closer to the pro-migrant NGOs than the Member States or the police forces.”
He added that, under the von der Leyen-led EC, he found it difficult to act to protect Europe’s borders as there was “no political support” to do so.
“I realised, for some NGOs and for some part of the Commission services — and for Commissioner Johansson — they considered that everybody has a fundamental right to enter the European Union, even if it is an illegal crossing of the border,” Leggeri said.
“According to them, border guards are not allowed to stop illegal migrants.
“I was even told by the Commissioner in 2019 — it was our first talk together as she had been freshly appointed Commissioner — she said: ‘But why does the European border and coast guard agency need uniforms and weapons? Because your job… is to welcome migrants.’
“And she added: ‘Europe is an ageing continent, so we have to welcome migrants,'” he said.
The full interview will be posted on the Brussels Signal homepage and YouTube channel shorty.
👉🏼 Almost half a million illegal EU border crossings in 2023
The annual report from the EU's border agency, Frontex, shows a 17 per cent increase in illegal border crossings compared to 2022.
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