France: Former Prime Minister Édouard Balladur has died at 97

Former French Prime Minister Édouard Balladur passed away on Monday in Paris at the age of 97, as announced by his family. A significant figure in French right-wing politics, he led the government from 1993 to 1995 during the second cohabitation with socialist President François Mitterrand. Balladur began his political career alongside Georges Pompidou and became close to Jacques Chirac before running for the presidential election in 1995.