The acting head of the EU’s border agency is a “person of concern” in an investigation into the organization by the bloc’s anti-fraud watchdog.
Aija Kalnaja has been interim director of the border agency, Frontex, since April, when her predecessor, Fabrice Leggeri, resigned after initial findings of an investigation by the anti-fraud watchdog OLAF found that Frontex officials knew about migrants being pushed back into the Mediterranean Sea and did not report it.
Kalnaja, a 53-year-old Latvian former police officer, was notified by OLAF that she is a “person of concern in one case,” according to a written statement from her shared with POLITICO by email, confirming several media reports.
“I cooperate with OLAF fully, openly and unconditionally to clarify the facts,” Kalnaja said in the statement, adding that she could not “disclose the details” of the case at this stage “due to [the] confidentiality of the investigation.”
According to Der Spiegel, the case is part of a wider OLAF investigation into the EU border agency. Kalnaja told the German weekly she was maintaining her bid to become the agency’s permanent director, with a vote by Frontex’s board due in four days.
