Paris —

For a minister, some might say Sébastien Lecornu has had an easy gig inside French President Emmanuel Macron’s government.

As France’s defense minister since 2022, he’s enjoyed a booming budget, tens of thousands of patriotic and disciplined employees under his authority and a mission – warding off Russian aggression – that few could challenge.

Plucked out of the cabinet to be the next prime minister, his new job will be significantly more difficult.

He is the longest serving sitting minister, enjoying rare stability within the French government , but now the freshly announced Prime Minister Lecornu will have to contend with the crushing calculus of a divided parliament and a budget that is seemingly impossible for the French to stomach.

When Francois Bayrou, the latest

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