France, former minister and centrist leader Léotard died

PARIS. Former French defense minister and former UDF centrist leader François Léotard has died at the age of 81. This was announced by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, paying tribute to the “free spirit, a man of reading and commitment” who “served the state and carried forward a great idea of ​​culture”. Head of the UDF from 1996 to 1998, Léotard had been minister during two periods of “cohabitation” under François Mitterrand: first of Culture, from 1986 to 1988, then of Defense, from 1993 to 1995. His political career was marked by painful electoral defeats and – in the end – from judicial problems: the sentence to 10 months in prison with probation for money laundering and illicit party financing.