French former foreign minister returns gifted statues

Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin attends the ceremony for the late former French Minister of Justice and President of the Constitutional Council Robert Badinter outside the Pantheon, where he will be inducted, in Paris, Oct. 9, 2025. (Files / AFP)

• Dominique de Villepin was foreign minister from 2002 to 2004 and prime minister from 2005 to 2007 under president Chirac
• His entourage insisted the accusations against him aimed at ‘settling political scores’

PARIS: Dominique de Villepin, a potential candidate in France’s 2027 presidential election, on Monday returned two Napoleon statuettes he received as gifts while foreign minister, but disputed they were worth nearly $150,000.
Lobbyist Robert Bourgi, a key figure in France’s post-colonial relations in Africa, told French television last week he had acted as a go-between to give the items paid for by Blaise Compaore, when he was president of Burkina Faso, and an Italian businessman.
Bourgi helped sink the 2017 presidential campaign of former prime minister Francois Fillon, after revelations that he had given him suits worth 13,000 euros ($15,000).
He also claimed in 2011 to have brought suitcases of cash from African countries to former president Jacques Chirac and de Villepin between 1997 and 2005, but the investigation was closed without further action.
A source close to de Villepin told AFP that the statuettes were handed over to the foreign ministry on Monday.
Bourgi had said they were bought for 75,000 euros and 50,000 euros but de Villepin’s entourage estimated that the price was “four to five times lower.”
“The appraisal carried out by one of the best French specialists, accredited by the courts, established that the market value of these works could be estimated at between 18,000 and 20,000 euros for one, and between 10,000 and 12,000 euros for the other,” the source said.
De Villepin, who was foreign minister from 2002 to 2004, has said he believed they were gifts paid for by Bourgi and did not know their true origin.
His entourage insisted the accusations against him were “maneuvers” aimed at “settling political scores and creating a smokescreen at a time when (former president Nicolas Sarkozy) is once again facing the courts.”
Sarkozy has long had poor relations with de Villepin.
Bourgi, a loyal supporter of Sarkozy, told France 2 television that he had nothing to do with the revelations.
De Villepin has not yet declared his candidacy for the presidential election but has made no secret of wanting the country’s top job.