While the International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressed its confidence that the French authorities will maintain the security of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with a comprehensive plan for the biggest sporting event, French police threatened to interrupt activity at airports during the event if their demands for bonuses and decent working conditions are not met.
The French capital is preparing to welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors over the 16-day Games, including the July 26 opening ceremony along the Seine River, where 600,000 spectators are expected to witness the passage of 160 boats that will transport athletes through the center of Paris.
The opening ceremony is considered a major security challenge in itself, with more than 45,000 security personnel deployed on the day.
French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that France was prepared to move the opening ceremony to another location if the security situation required it.
European security officials have warned of a growing risk of attacks by Islamist militants amid the war between Israel and Hamas, with the biggest threat likely to be from lone attackers who are difficult to track.
France raised its safety threshold in October, when a man armed with a knife killed a teacher at a school in the north of the country.
Contact
“Obviously, we are in constant contact (with the organizers of the Games),” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams at a press conference held in the South Korean city of Gangneung at the end of a meeting of the IOC Executive Commission.
“We have great confidence in the authorities to ensure that these Games are safe,” he added.
With a security budget of 320 million euros ($348.42 million), France will deploy some 35,000 troops in the days following the opening ceremony, when numerous competitions and events will be held in the city center.
“This confidence is based on a report received in December (from French authorities)…on the measures to be taken during the Games,” said Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi. And he added: “They are mobilizing all the necessary resources, on the order of 45,000 security personnel on the day of the opening ceremony and 35,000 for the remaining days, each and every day, 24 hours a day. “A great effort is being made.”
Despite the IOC’s confidence in security, French police threatened to interrupt activity at airports during the Games if their demands for bonuses and decent working conditions are not met.
Law enforcement officers have demonstrated in the French capital and elsewhere demanding answers from the Interior Ministry about their request for an “Olympic bonus” of 2,000 euros ($2,174) and guarantees that “social measures” will be approved. , particularly about childcare during the summer.
“We will cause fear if our demands are not met,” said Chafia Boutara, administrative secretary of the Alliance Police union, as a dozen police officers demonstrated and lit blue flares outside Paris City Hall.
parade
“There will be tougher actions. We will block airports with agents who will take not three minutes, but 25 to check passports. Then they are going to see how the head of the Paris Airport picks up the phone and calls the government.”
Last week, police officers paraded in open buses through Paris to urge authorities to speed up talks on working conditions and pay during the Games, which run from July 26 to August 11.
In the midst of national holidays, the Olympic Games will place an additional burden on Paris’ workforce, amid heightened security threats and chronic staff shortages in the police, hospitals and public transport.
Some 30,000 police and soldiers will be mobilized to ensure security for the opening ceremony on July 26, when some 600,000 people are expected to watch athletes and delegations sail down the Seine River.
“We serve the State. “We want the Olympic Games to be a success, but the authorities have turned a deaf ear to our demands,” said Mickael Vinard, head of the forensic police union.
“We want people who come to Paris, Lille, Marseille or Tahiti for the Olympics to be safe.”
Source: Ambito
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