Critics say appointing a Macron loyalist on such a day amounts to a baptism of fire for Lecornu.

Legislators toppled France’s government in a confidence vote on Monday, a new crisis for Europe’s second-largest economy that obliges President Emmanuel Macron to search for a fourth prime minister i...

Lecornu, 39, was the youngest defense minister in French history and architect of a major military buildup through 2030, spurred by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

France’s prime minister has quit after losing a confidence vote that toppled his government, plunging the country into a new political crisis.

French President Emmanuel Macron late Tuesday appointed Defence Minister Sbastien Lecornu as France's new prime minister, the country's fourth in about a year.

"The President of the Republic has entrusted me with the task of building a government with a clear direction: the defence of our independence and power, the service of the French people, and politic...