Former French PM Balladur dies aged 97: family

Former French prime minister Edouard Balladur died in Paris on Monday at the age of 97, his family told AFP.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Balladur a "demanding, level-headed, and devoted public servant" who he said had "dedicated his life to the Fifth Republic."

PARIS, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Edouard Balladur, who was France's prime minister from 1993 to 1995, has died at 97, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X."Edouard Balladur is closely associated with fifty years of the history of the Fifth Republic. From his early days working alongside Georges Pompidou to his appointme

His time in office coincided with France’s fraught role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the corruption scandal known as the Karachi affair.

Former secretary general of the Elysée under Georges Pompidou, negotiator of the Grenelle Agreements in 1968 and head of François Mitterrand's government in 1993, he failed to win the presidential elections of 1995 against Jacques Chirac. This key figure of France's Fifth Republic has died at the age of 97.

Former secretary general of the Elysée under Georges Pompidou, negotiator of the Grenelle Agreements in 1968 and head of François Mitterrand's government in 1993, he failed to win the presidential elections of 1995 against Jacques Chirac. This key figure of France's Fifth Republic has died at the age of 97.

PARIS, Aug 31 - Edouard Balladur, who was France's prime minister from 1993 to 1995, has died at 97, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on X.

Former French prime minister Édouard Balladur died in Paris on Monday at the age of 97, his family told AFP. Balladur, who was born in Turkey, served as President François Mitterrand's last prime minister from March 1993 to May 1995, carrying out several major privatisations of state companies, and unsuccessfully ran f