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Michel Barnier: Brexit negotiator appointed French prime minister
Former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has been appointed French prime minister.
After facing weeks of pressure following the tumultuous French elections, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Mr Barnier to the post.
France has been in a state of flux since Mr Macron’s party lost its majority in parliament amid a rise in seats for Marine Le Pen’s far-right party.
Ms Le Pen has said National Rally will not be part of a government led by Mr Barnier, 73 and who faces a vote of confidence by MPs in order to be able to stand as the prime minister of the 68m-strong country.
Ms Le Pen, whose party came third in July’s vote despite it being tipped to win, responded to Mr Barnier’s appointment saying “we will demand that the new head of government respects the 11 million French people who voted for the Rassemblement National, and respects them and their ideas.
“We will be attentive to the project he will carry out, and to ensuring that the aspirations of our voters, who represent a third of the French population, are heard and respected,” she added in a post on X.
Mr Barnier, who once described former UK prime minister Boris Johnson as a “bulldozer”, led the EU’s talks with Britain over its exit from the bloc from 2016 to 2021.
Emmanuel Macron and Michel Barnier. Pic: AP
Prior to that, the conservative politician held roles in various French governments and was also EU Commissioner.
He is staunchly pro-European and has spent his career as a moderate politician, though he toughened his discourse considerably during his failed 2021 bid to get his conservative party’s ticket for the presidential election, saying immigration was out of control.
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President Macron had considered a string of candidates for prime minister, searching for someone with enough support to guarantee a stable government.
A statement from Mr Macron’s office announcing Mr Barnier’s appointment said he’d been tasked “with forming a unifying government to serve the country and the French people.”
National Rally president Jordan Bardella commented on Mr Barnier’s appointment in a post on X: “We will judge his general policy speech, his budgetary decisions and his actions on the spot.
“We will plead for the major emergencies facing the French people – purchasing power, security, immigration – to be finally addressed, and we reserve all political means of action if this is not the case in the coming weeks.”
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