France Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has announced his departure from the socialist government.
He told reporters that he had attended his final cabinet meeting on February 10.
Laurent Fabius – who was prime minister in the 1980s – was seen as the architect of France’s tough foreign policy under President Francois Hollande.
The 69-year-old has been nominated by President Francois Hollande to head France’s constitutional court, which ensures bills comply with the constitution.
It is unclear who will replace Laurent Fabius as foreign minister.
There had been reports of Laurent Fabius’s imminent departure as part of a wider cabinet reshuffle. He does not say why he was standing down.
Under Laurent Fabius as foreign minister, over the past three years French forces have battled militants in Mali and taken part in air strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
He has been a vocal opponent of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
Laurent Fabius has also been widely hailed for helping forge an ambitious agreement to tackle global warming, during a UN summit in Paris last year.
