Former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur dies at 97

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur died Monday at the age of 97, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced.

Balladur served as France's prime minister from 1993 to 1995 under Socialist President Francois Mitterrand.

French President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to Balladur, describing him as a "demanding, measured, and devoted servant" of France who had "devoted his life to the Fifth Republic."

"I salute his memory and send my thoughts to his family and loved ones," Macron wrote on US social media company X.

Born in Türkiye's Aegean province of Izmir on May 2, 1929, Balladur moved with his family to France in 1934 when he was five years old.

He also served as finance minister from 1986 to 1988 in the government of Jacques Chirac.