Edouard Balladur, former French PM, dies at 97

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

Balladur served as President Francois Mitterrand's last prime minister from March 1993 to May 1995 and carried out several major privatisations of state companies. He ran for president in 1995 but lost to his former political ally-turned-rival Jacques Chirac, who went on to serve as president until 2007.

President Emmanuel Macron said Balladur was a man who “had France at heart” and a “devoted servant of the nation”. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy said he had lost “an example, a mentor and a friend”, writing on X: “Tonight, I mourn the loss of one of the men who mattered most in my life.”

Born in Smyrna, now Izmir in Turkey, on May 2, 1929, Balladur moved to France as a child with his family, grew up in Marseille and studied at the Ecole Nationale d'Administration. He later served as chief of staff to president Georges Pompidou.

In 2017, Balladur was charged over alleged kickbacks linked to state arms deals with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and his failed presidential campaign. He was acquitted, while his former defence minister Francois Leotard received a suspended two-year prison term for misuse of assets.

Balladur was married and had four sons. His family said a private mass would be held, without giving further details.