![DERRICK CEYRAC / AFP [DERRICK CEYRAC / AFP]](/cdn-cgi/image/onerror=redirect,width=640,height=640,format=webp/https://storage.googleapis.com/uploads.mongoosehq.com/url/media/172385894/a4c5ea2726ae107e5c715da9d8e6da0bbf355aeecfa354624dae3ef3563fe1f4)
Overview
- His family told AFP that Édouard Balladur died in Paris, which was announced Monday, 31 August 2026, prompting immediate national coverage and official tributes.
- Balladur served as Prime Minister from March 1993 to May 1995 and led a government that pushed private pension changes and a new wave of privatizations as part of a broadly liberal economic agenda.
- He ran for president in 1995, began as the frontrunner but was overtaken by Jacques Chirac and finished third in the first round, a defeat that created a durable division between 'balladuriens' and 'chiraquiens' on the right.
- Leaders across the political spectrum paid tribute, with President Emmanuel Macron calling him a 'serviteur exigeant' and figures such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Gabriel Attal praising his public service and reforming spirit.
- Alongside obituaries and photo retrospectives, media have resurfaced archival interviews in which Balladur urged dialogue during protests like the gilets jaunes, and coverage notes his later roles in the National Assembly and his retirement from active politics in 2006.