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Herz — World Desk · · 30s summary · 3 min read
Édouard Balladur, former French Prime Minister, has died on August 31, 2026, in Paris, at the age of 97. His family announced the news to AFP and indicated that a mass would be held in strict family privacy. Head of government under François Mitterrand from March 1993 to May 1995, he left his mark on French political life through his 1995 presidential campaign against his longtime friend Jacques Chirac, and through his acquittal in 2021 in a campaign financing case. Emmanuel Macron and several political figures paid tribute to him.
Édouard Balladur died on Monday, August 31, 2026, in Paris, at the age of 97. His family announced the news to AFP.
The family specified that a mass would be held 'in strict family privacy,' without providing any further details.
Balladur entered the cabinet of Georges Pompidou at age 35, when Pompidou was Prime Minister under General de Gaulle. In 1968, he participated in the Grenelle Accords alongside Jacques Chirac.
Appointed Prime Minister in March 1993 by François Mitterrand, he led the government through cohabitation until May 1995. He was thus the last Prime Minister to serve under President Mitterrand.
Nicknamed 'the thirty-year friend' of Jacques Chirac, Balladur declared his candidacy for the presidency in January 1995. He was supported by the Pasqua faction and by Nicolas Sarkozy, who was Minister of the Budget at the time.
Long favored in the polls, his lead gradually diminished. He was eliminated in the first round, which ended his national ambitions and caused a lasting division within the right.
Balladur came under scrutiny for suspected illegal financing of his 1995 campaign, allegedly through kickbacks on weapons contracts with Pakistan.
In 2021, the High Court of Justice acquitted him. His former Defense Minister François Léotard, who has since died, was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended.
In late April 2026, Balladur published a farewell essay in Le Figaro. He acknowledged that he had not 'understood' May 1968 well, which he retrospectively saw as 'a civilizational crisis.' He also admitted that he had shown 'too much distance and coldness' in his public role.
Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to him on X, calling him a 'devoted follower of President Pompidou' and a 'demanding, measured, and devoted servant' of France.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu praised him on X as a 'statesman with a reformist spirit.' He also called him a 'reference point for many men and women of his political family.'
Bruno Retailleau, chairman of the Republicans (LR), paid tribute to him on X, hailing a politician who was driven, according to him, by a 'noble idea of France.'
On Monday, August 31, 2026, in Paris, at the age of 97. His family announced the news to AFP.
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From March 1993 to May 1995, under President François Mitterrand, of whom he was the last Prime Minister.
Balladur came under scrutiny for suspected illegal financing of his 1995 campaign through kickbacks on weapons contracts with Pakistan. In 2021, the High Court of Justice acquitted him.
Published in Le Figaro, this farewell essay acknowledged that he had not understood May 1968 well, seeing it retrospectively as a civilizational crisis, and admitted he had shown too much distance and coldness in his public role.
Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, and Republican party chairman Bruno Retailleau all paid tribute to him on August 31, 2026.
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