French Prime Minister Acknowledges Talks This Week May Fail to Save Him

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou struck a combative tone in his effort to gain support for a Sept. 8 confidence vote, while acknowledging that talks with political parties may fail to save his government from being ousted.

“Compromise is a beautiful thing, but I’m not sure it’s possible,” Bayrou said in an interview with French news channels on Sunday evening. That followed comments by several opposition leaders over the weekend that appeared to sweep aside any chance of their support.