Frontex appoints a Dutch soldier as new director after scandals about alleged misconduct at the agency

Frontex, the agency for the protection of the external borders of the European Union, wants to change course. The Dutchman Hans Leijtens (Tilburg, 59 years old), professional soldier with war experience, will be at the helm of the community administration for the next five years from the beginning of 2023, which has the largest budget in the entire EU, as Frontex said in a statement on Tuesday. With the appointment, the agency wants to put behind a number of turbulent years, in which it was involved in numerous scandals that last April even ended the career of the agency’s former general manager, the Frenchman Fabrice Leggeri.

With the nomination of Leijtens, who passed the mandatory hearing in the European Parliament at the end of November “in which he defeated the candidate from Croatia and Latvia”, ends a transitional phase that, like him, was led by the Latvian Aija Kalnaja , predecessor Leggeri , came under the spotlight of the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) due to information published in the European media about alleged human rights abuses by agency officials against migrants attempting to enter EU territory illegally. But little has happened from this last dark episode at Frontex. OLAF confined itself to reporting that Kalnaya has become a “person of interest”, a term meaning that he is under investigation. In turn, she has not manifested herself, saying she wants to maintain the “confidentiality” of the investigation.

After the appointment of Leijtens, the Commissioner of the Interior, lSweden’s Ylva Johansson congratulated her via her Twitter account At the same time, he thanked the “excellent” work of the Latvian Kalnaya “in difficult times” in view of the continued suspicion of law violations committed by Frontex in various parts of the old continent. Johansson also reiterated on the same social network that the EU is “committed to improving Frontex governance to protect the external borders. [de la UE] in the best possible way”, in a clear reference to a change of direction – now military – in the organization of the agency based in Warsaw.

Commander of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, where he commands some 7,000 men and women, Leijtens has received numerous awards for his military service to NATO and also received medals for his participation in peacekeeping missions. He has experience in conflicts such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, which he recently visited with a small team investigating possible war crimes.

Although he has been representing the Netherlands at Frontex since 2011, he is now reaching the top of the agency with a message that is at odds with that of his two predecessors: zero tolerance for the slightest suspicion of human rights violations or illegality of any kind. “I am concerned that Frontex is not realizing its potential as I am concerned about the legitimacy of operations and the lack of trust and legitimacy I see in and around the agency. We need another Frontex in these difficult times,” Leijtens said in his hearing before the Eurokamer, reports Efe.

dedication

The commander has already expressed his “commitment” to the position in a column published last July in JenV, a magazine of the Dutch Ministry of Justice. “I believe that passion for the work and a better contribution to the security of the Netherlands is a condition for all employees of the Gendarmerie. This is the only way we can keep what we promise every day in our motto: “Be there when you need it”, wrote Leijtens.

His “passion”, according to the commander in a statement that today can be interpreted as a statement of intent, “is leading an organization that can make an immediate difference in the field of security”.