Security at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is one of the great challenges facing the organization and it returned to the center of the scene after France raised the maximum alert level following the attack in Moscow, Russia, in which some 140 people who had attended a concert at the Crocus City Hall died. The decision to raise the alert level to the maximum means that four thousand soldiers are waiting to be mobilized, according to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. The objective is to add personnel in “sensitive places such as schools, religious temples, concert halls, stations, airports or city centers”.
The attack in Moscow was claimed by a branch of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) and recalled what happened on November 13, 2015 in Paris when 130 people were killed in a series of attacks that took place in the Bataclan concert hall, different bars and near the Stade France, where a friendly match was being played between France and Germany.
Emmanuel Macron, president of France, confirmed in the last few hours that the Islamic State has also been behind some attacks that were attempted in the country and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, acknowledged that “almost every month” an attack is thwarted.
Europe is on high alert and, of course, so is Paris, which in just four months will see the start of the Olympic Games and expects to receive close to 10 million spectators.
On a visit to Roubaix, near the border with Belgium, Darmanin acknowledged that France “is particularly threatened, especially during these extraordinary events that will be the Olympic Games”. The interior minister said that “the French police, gendarmes, prefects and intelligence services will be ready” for the Games.
One of the great challenges for security forces will be on July 26 when the Olympic Games officially open, in a ceremony that will be historic because it will not be in a stadium as is traditional, but rather that the athletes will travel the Seine River in boats. One million people are expected between those who will pay for their ticket and those who will follow the event nearby.
A couple of months ago, during a visit to the National Institute of Sport and Performance (INSEP), Macron admitted that “our first challenge is security, with the terrorist threat that is always there”. The president had stated that alternatives were being considered for the ceremony in case of a threat, although later Tony Estanguet, president of the Organizing Committee, stated that it will be on the Seine River as planned and they did not think of other plans.
Another security challenge will include the torch relay, which will begin on May 8 in Marseille and will cover more than 400 locations until reaching Paris. The Olympic flame will be guarded by a “bubble” of 100 troops.
The Interior Minister had announced that 13 of the 12,000 people who registered to be part of the relay were rejected and explained that the intelligence services removed three because of “radical Islam, foreign interference or links with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”. France will allocate 30,000 troops and about 15,000 soldiers to cover all the headquarters, while there will also be about 20,000 security agents.
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