With France on “emergency attack alert” following threats from ISIS K and the attack in Russia, the Olympic Games that will begin on July 26 and end on August 14
are at risk
. Several foreign nations
will send at least 2,000 soldiers
to help secure the competition, which will attract 15 million tourists.
France has asked
46 countries for
military and police help
and 35 have already responded favorably. Some of the foreign police officers
may carry weapons
, especially those delegations exposed to being attacked by terrorism.
"Several foreign nations will reinforce us in certain critical areas, such as dog capabilities, where the needs are enormous during the Olympic Games," the French Ministry of the Armed Forces said Thursday.
France has planned to deploy 35,000 members of law enforcement during the Olympic Games and 45,000 on the day of the opening ceremony on the Seine River.
Poland sends soldiers
Poland will send soldiers to help secure the Paris 2024 Olympics.
This practice is common in massive events like this one, which brings together crowds of different languages. French gendarmes
participated in site security during the World Cup in Qatar,
for example. They sent 226 security personnel and 167 gendarmes in charge of the anti-drone fight to Qatar.
At the Olympics in Britain, 1,200 military personnel were deployed to help secure the 2012 sporting event in London after G4S, the private company in charge of security, did
not provide enough guards
, according to the government.
Final touches on the sites that will be used in the Paris Games. Photo: Reuters
160 representatives of European security forces throughout the territory participated in the Rugby World Cup in France, especially to control British fans and potential
hooligans.
The fear of the attack
The project is for these foreign forces
to move to places where their compatriots are present
. The German federal police will go to the Jean Bouin stadium, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, and will help secure the cities where the competitions will take place. This is the main concern of the French authorities due to the fear of an attack.
According to the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu,
18,000 French soldiers
will be
Journalists visit the stadium under construction for equestrian activities. Photo: Reuters
available for the Olympic Games, including 3,000 aviators in charge of aerial surveillance.
International coalition
Hours earlier, Poland's defense minister said his country would send military reinforcements to France.
"The Polish armed forces will join the international coalition, created by France, to support the preparation and security of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games," declared Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, without specifying the number of soldiers deployed.
View of one of the Olympic stadiums. Photo: Valery HACHE / AFP
“An operational force, composed of our soldiers, including sniffer dogs
, will be deployed in Paris
. The main objective will be to train operations to
detect explosives and fight terrorism
,” according to the Polish minister.
According to the spokesman for the General Staff of the Polish army, “the decisions have already been made.” "We are now creating a working group for the Olympic Games," Joanna Klejszmit told AFP, adding that French army chief of staff Thierry Burkhard visited Poland on Thursday.
The biggest challenge: the ceremony on the Seine
The biggest challenge will be
the opening ceremony along the Seine River
, where there will be at least 270,000 people and 170 boats.
While in Russia, the Islamic State K has just carried out the deadliest attack on European soil by ISIS and calls on the “lone wolves” to act during Ramadan in Europe, the United States and Israel,
the security context is tense
, four months from the start of the sports competition.
An illustration of what the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in Paris will be like. Photo: Florian HULLEU/ AFP
The French Government has decided, immediately after the attack in Moscow, to raise the Vigipirate plan to the highest level: “
urgent attack alert”.
At least 130 French schools across the country have been threatened with bombs and 20 were evacuated by police between Wednesday and Thursday.
A director of the Maurice Ravel high school in Paris resigned from his position after threats of being beheaded for “security reasons
. ”
He had asked three students to remove their veils at school
in the name of the secularism law that governs the country. There are two young people detained. A “national mobile school force” will be deployed to guarantee the physical security of schools and high schools.
"The Games are a goal"
"The Olympic Games are a goal,"
said Jean-Charles Brisard, president of the Center for Analysis of Terrorism (CAT).
On Monday, the Minister of the Interior wanted to reassure the population during a trip to Roubaix. "The French police, the gendarmes, the prefects, the intelligence services, are ready" for the Olympic Games, indicated Gérald Darmanin.
Paris has organized several Olympics: in 1900 and 1924 and will host now, in 2024.
Paris will be the second city, in the Modern Games, to have hosted the Olympic Games three times.
The other was London
, which organized them in 1908, 1948, 2012.