Leggeri, who resigned from Frontex in 2022 while under investigation by the EU’s anti-fraud office OLAF, said he had joined the party’s list for the European elections in June.

“The RN has a concrete plan and the capacity to carry it out,” he told the Journal du Dimanche Sunday newspaper.

“We are determined to combat the migratory submersion, which the European Commission and the Eurocrats do not consider a problem, but rather a project: I can testify to this,” he told the paper.

Leggeri, a 55-year-old French civil servant, led Frontex from 2015 to 2022 before resigning.

“Today, I am choosing to put my experience and expertise at the service of the French,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Leading Frontex for almost seven years and working for the state for around 30 years, notably in security and immigration, makes this decision coherent,” he added.

Opinion polls suggest that the European elections will bring major gains for the far right, and Leggeri is number three on the National Rally’s list.

During his tenure at the head of Frontex, Leggeri, a figurehead for impenetrable European frontiers, was frequently accused of tolerating illegal “pushbacks” of migrants.

French magazine Le Point reported that OLAF’s confidential report into Leggeri found he “did not follow procedures, was dishonest with the EU and managed staff badly”.