French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former European Commissioner Michel Barnier as the country's prime minister, it was announced from the Elysée Palace.
Barnije (73) was appointed to the post of Prime Minister of France almost two months after the parliamentary elections, Radio Free Europe reports.
The announcement states that Barnier has been tasked with forming a unity government that will serve the country and the French people.
"The appointment followed an unprecedented series of consultations during which, in accordance with his constitutional obligations, the president ensured that the prime minister and the future government meet all the conditions to be as stable as possible and get the opportunity to create the widest possible unity," the statement said.
Macron and his advisers were looking for a candidate who could win the support of representatives from different groups in parliament, in order to prevent the opposition from quickly overthrowing the new government.
Barnier was the chief negotiator of the European Union at the time of Brexit and the exit of Great Britain from the Union.
He is an influential figure in the Republican conservative party and has a decades-long political career behind him.
He was Minister of Ecology during the term of President François Mitterrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs during the time of Jacques Chirac and Minister of Agriculture during the term of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
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