personal political choice. you were a french bureaucrat, then you went to brussels to run an eu agency, then you decided to enter partisan politics not very long ago, and you joined the national rally party. what was it about marine le pen s party that attracted you? well, in fact, as the former executive director of frontex, the european border and coastguard agency, i realised that at some point brussels and especially the european commission didn t want to properly control the external borders of the european union, so we had to face and we still have to face massive illegal immigration flows. and what i realised that, officially, my mandate, my mission was officially to create a european corps of border and coastguard with uniforms and weapons to support european member states, to support them in protecting the external borders against illegal migration but also criminality. and the european commissioner at that time, madamejohansson, in charge of migration and just
every member state is free to decide on its own. and this is our political line. what we don t want, that the european commission decides on behalf of member states. and this is exactly what s going to happen. but with respect, france hasjust signed a migration pact alongside all the other members of the eu. that s signed and sealed. it s too late for you to stop that. yeah. but what is extremely interesting is that two days after this pact on asylum and migration was adopted, 15 member states sent a letter. so, ministers, 15 ministers sent a letter to the european commission asking, in fact, to focus now on combating illegal migration upstream, so before migrants arrive in europe, and especially with the proposal that the people in need of international protection, so let s say refugees or asylum seekers, should be allowed to lodge an asylum application in consulates abroad. so meaning, and this is exactly what my political party proposes, that people in need of internationa
it s great to have you on the show. let s start with your own personal political choice. you were a french bureaucrat, then you went to brussels to run an eu agency, then you decided to enter partisan politics not very long ago, and you joined the national rally party. what was it about marine le pen s party that attracted you? well, in fact, as the former executive director of frontex, the european border and coastguard agency, i realised that at some point brussels and especially the european commission didn t want to properly control the external borders of the european union, so we had to face and we still have to face massive illegal immigration flows. and what i realised that, officially, my mandate, my mission was officially to create a european corps of border and coastguard with uniforms and weapons to support european member states, to support them in protecting the external borders against illegal migration but also criminality. and the european commissioner