Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux has been forced to resign over payments of public funds to his daughters, denying he had done anything wrong but saying he did not want the scandal to affect the government's work.

The Elysee presidential office said the junior foreign trade minister, Matthias Fekl, would replace Le Roux, Reuters reported.

In a farewell speech, Le Roux wished Fekl success saying that “the most important thing now is to ensure the security of the elections.”

In turn, Matthias Fekl stated that it is a great honor for him to serve in this outstanding ministry." He emphasized that a priority task for him will be continuation of ruthless fight against terrorism in the conditions of “exclusively high level of threat”, and also creation of a safe situation for holding presidential elections in April and May.