France's Macron poaches conservative veteran in coup ahead of EU elections

PARIS (Reuters) -French President Emmanuel Macron poached former Nicolas Sarkozy minister Rachida Dati to join his new government, a surprise move that will further weaken his conservative opponents and signals his desire to bring political experience to his cabinet.

Dati, a vocal former justice minister who enjoys strong name recognition in France, was named culture minister in Macron's new government, which also confirmed heavyweights Bruno Le Maire and Gerald Darmanin for the finance and interior portfolios.

"It's a huge political coup, no one had seen that coming," former Sarkozy culture minister Roselyne Bachelot said on BFM TV. "She's hugely pugnacious, she's popular, and she's popular with common people."

By poaching a big name from conservative ranks, Macron moves away from a previous tendency to put technocrats in cabinet roles and shows the president is gearing up for political battle ahead of European parliament elections in June.

The first batch of ministers announced by his office on Thursday, which also includes MEP Stéphane Séjourné as foreign minister, comes after Macron named rising political star Gabriel Attal as his prime minister earlier this week.

(Writing by Michel Rose;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)