Fabrice Leggeri, former head of the EU border agency Frontex, announced on Saturday that he had joined France’s far-right National Rally.
He will be third on the party’s list for the European election in June.
Leggeri stepped down from his role at Frontex in 2022 after an investigation by EU anti-fraud agency OLAF unveiled wrongdoing at the agency — including illegally forcing migrants back across a border, along EU shores in the Aegean Sea at Greece’s frontier with Turkey.
“Our objective is clear: to regain control of the borders of the European Union and France,” he posted on social media network X on Saturday. The National Rally “has a concrete plan and the determination to make it a reality,” he said.
According to new poll data released last week, France’s far right is forecast to record its highest-ever result in the upcoming European Parliament election.
The National Rally, led by member of the European Parliament Jordan Bardella, could win 33 percent of the vote, while the far-right Reconquête party would stand at 6 percent, according to a poll from consultancy firm Portland Communications shared with POLITICO.