Frontex is responsible for protecting the EU's external borders. But the EU authority is making a name for itself with reports about illegal migrant pushbacks. A Dutch lieutenant general is now the new boss. Leijtens should ensure a restart.
After numerous revelations about illegal practices at the EU border protection agency Frontex, a Dutch lieutenant general has taken over the helm of the agency. The new executive director of the border protection agency is Hans Leijtens, as the Frontex board of directors announced in Warsaw in the afternoon. The 59-year-old was most recently in charge of the Dutch military police, where he was also responsible for protecting the national borders.
Leijtens will begin his five-year term "as soon as possible," said the Board of Directors, which is made up of representatives from member states and the EU Commission. Leijtens has commanded the Dutch military police, the Royal Marechaussee, since 2019. Previously, he worked in the Ministry of the Interior in his home country, among other things, and was head of the customs authority. Since 2011, he has been a member of the Frontex Board of Directors, with interruptions.
The Dutchman prevailed against Latvian Aija Kalnaja, who had temporarily headed the border protection authority since July. She succeeded French official Fabrice Leggeri, who resigned at the end of April. The reason for this were reports of human rights violations at the EU's external borders and investigations by the anti-fraud authority Olaf. Most recently, interim chief Kalnaya was also targeted by investigators in connection with allegations of fraud, as reported by "Spiegel" and other media.
EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johansson congratulated Leijtens on his new post. "We are determined to further improve the Frontex line in order to best protect the EU's external borders," she said on Twitter. Among other things, Frontex is accused of so-called pushbacks - illegal and sometimes violent deportations of asylum seekers to third countries. "The election of a new Frontex leadership can only be a first step towards fundamentally reforming this scandalous EU agency - without taboos," said Pro Asyl in Frankfurt am Main.
