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French centre-right tilts toward Pécresse
By EUobserver
Valérie Pécresse, a moderate conservative who has likened herself to former British and German leaders Margaret Thatcher and Angela Merkel, has emerged as a front-runner in primaries in France's centre-right Les Républicains party, Reuters reports. "I won't flinch. I have a project for a clean break, a project for the unashamed right," she said Thursday, ahead of elections against liberal incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right contenders in spring.