Michel Barnier named by Macron as new French PM

The French president names the EU's former Brexit negotiator almost two months after snap elections.

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Mr Barnier, 73, is the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator and led talks with the UK government between 2016 and 2019.

A veteran of the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, he has had a long political career and filled various senior posts, both in France and within the EU.

He will now have to form a government that can survive a National Assembly divided into three big political blocs, with none able to form a clear majority.

Known in France as Monsieur Brexit, Mr Barnier will be France's oldest prime minister since the Fifth Republic came into being in 1958.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqjlxvg2gj7o

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