The controversial head of the European border protection agency Frontex resigns. Fabrice Leggeri offered this in a letter to the agency’s board of directors on Thursday, and he has the document Süddeutsche Zeitung in front. The supervisory board will meet this Friday to decide on Leggeri’s future – he has hardly had any support in the board recently, reports the mirror.
The magazine political also reportsthat this is also being done under pressure from investigations by the EU anti-corruption agency Olaf, which are nearing completion. This examines possible misconduct at Frontex.
There was severe criticism of Leggeri because Frontex is said to have been involved in so-called pushback actions by the Greek coast guard. This refers to the rejection of refugees at the border without them being able to apply for asylum. This is prohibited under international law. In the case of the Aegean, the migrants are said to have been abandoned at sea. According to one mirrorreport, Frontex officials helped. Leggeri is said to have tried to cover up at least one case. Leggeri denied the allegations.
He has been in charge of Frontex since 2015, during which time Frontex has become significantly larger and more powerful. Against the background of the refugee crisis, the EU had placed great hopes in a larger and stronger border guard. On the other hand, human rights organizations have long criticized that Frontex is not transparent and neglects the protection of fundamental rights.