(FILES) Former French Prime Minister and potential candidate for the 2027 French presidential election Dominique de Villepin addresses a conference at Sciences Po university in Strasbourg, eastern France, on May 12, 2026. The National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) has opened a preliminary investigation targeting Dominique de Villepin in the case of the statuettes he received when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and then kept, the financial public prosecutor, Pascal Prache, announced on May 20, 2026. (Photo by ROMEO BOETZLE / AFP via Getty Images)