Closed perimeter, S files removed, foreign police… Darmanin specifies the contours of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics – Libération

In an interview with “Parisien” and published this Monday, April 8, the Minister of the Interior details the plan put in place for the security of the opening ceremony and more generally the Paris Games.

The Minister of the Interior wanted to be reassuring. In an interview given to Parisian, Gérald Darmanin takes stock this Monday April 8 on the security measures around the Olympic and Paralympic Games which will be held in France this summer (from July 26 to August 11 then from August 28 to September 8). For him, there is no reason to worry: France, thanks to the 45,000 police and gendarmes deployed, will be safe during the Olympics. “Paradoxically, from the moment they are very secure, major events are undoubtedly among the safest places, those where there will be the least possibility of taking action even if we must of course remain humble in the face of danger,” assures Gérald Darmanin.

For the Minister of the Interior, holding the opening ceremony on the banks of the Seine, in front of around 300,000 people, is “a good idea”. However, Gérald Darmanin ensures that he is prepared for “all eventualities”. From there, in the event of a threat, to switch to a B far from the Seine? “It is certain that if we had distinct and imminent threats, we would apply the decisions that the President of the Republic would take,” he explains, speaking of “numerous possible scenarios depending on critical situations”, without however to specify.

With the most likely view that the ceremony takes place, as planned, in the open air, an entire area around the Seine will be closed to traffic a week before July 26, the date of the big boat parade. Then, the same day from 1 p.m., “no one will come through, except emergencies (ambulance, SAMU, SOS doctors, firefighter, etc.). If there is another emergency, there will be dedicated teams of police officers to support you,” explains Gérald Darmanin. On the perimeter, around fifteen metro stations will be closed.

During this ceremony, many heads of state will be present. However, as “for the first time in the history of civil aviation” the airspace will be closed “from 7 p.m. to midnight” on the day of the ceremony, officials from all countries will have to sleep in Paris. Many hotels and embassies will therefore need to be monitored more closely.

Several S files removed from the framework

To supplement the French security forces, some 2,500 foreign police officers and gendarmes “will come and help us” during the Games, explains Gérald Darmanin, “either to secure their teams, or to lend us anti-drug and anti-bomb dogs. or anti-arms, or to discuss with their compatriots. Around fifty countries will lend a helping hand. Their agents will “mostly” be armed.

Gérald Darmanin also returned to the investigations carried out on the volunteers and security agents brought to work around the Games. “Among the 195,000 administrative investigations already carried out […] and the screening of 285,000 private security agents, we identified 161 S files, almost all French, which were dismissed: 105 for radical Islam, 35 from the ultra-right, 18 from the ultra-left and 3 for foreign interference. explains the Minister of the Interior. He cites the example of a “radical Islamist” who wanted to carry the Olympic flame or an “ultra-right type” who wanted to “go to Ukraine to fight alongside the Russians” and who wanted to volunteer.

Finally, the tenant of Place Beauvau explained the government’s plans to deal with the “protest threat”, such as the deployment of banners, sticking of hands on the road or attempt to extinguish the flame. To get around the demonstrations, Gérald Darmanin promises an “alternative route” on “each route of the Olympic flame”, which will arrive in Marseille from May 8 and pass through Paris until July 26. “If a sit-in is organized, we can get around it. If people throw themselves into the sea to stop the boat carrying her, we have planned a second disembarkation point,” he assures.