French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday appointed former right-wing minister and former European Commissioner Michel Barnier as prime minister, the Elysée Palace announced. He asked him to "form a unifying government in the service of the country."
The appointment comes two months after the results of the last legislative elections, following which Gabriel Attal handed in his second resignation notice under Macon, which was this time accepted.
Michel Barnier, minister for the first time in 1993, then three times under the presidencies of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, was appointed to the role.
At 73, he becomes the oldest prime minister of the Fifth Republic. He succeeds Gabriel Attal, 35, who was the youngest.
