Three days before the start of the 2024 Olympics, France’s interior minister said about 1,000 people suspected of possibly interfering in the event for a foreign power have been prevented from attending the Olympics, one of a number of security challenges Paris is tackling in its goal of keeping the Games safe for athletes and fans.
About a million background checks have been conducted on volunteers, workers and others involved in the Olympics, as well as those applying for passes to enter Paris’s most tightly controlled security zone (along the banks of the Seine) ahead of the opening ceremony on the river on Friday.
According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday, the controls prevented the entry of around 5,000 people. Of these, “there are 1,000 people who we suspect of having committed foreign interference, we could say that they have spied,” he added.
Darmanin, who will remain in office on an interim basis until a new government is formed following legislative elections this month that denied President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition a majority, has repeatedly raised suspicions of Russian-backed interference.
“We are here to ensure that sport is not used to spy, to carry out cyber attacks or to criticise and sometimes even lie about France and the French,” said Darmanin.
He added that the “interference and manipulation of information” was not only coming from Russia, but also from other countries, which he did not name. He also did not give further details about the alleged interference.
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“That’s why we are on alert and we want you to know that we are not naive,” he said.
Others were barred from the Olympics after background checks detected suspicions of Islamic radicalization, left- or right-wing political extremism, significant criminal records and other security concerns, Darmanin said.
“We did not think it was right that these people were stadium security guards, volunteers or that they accompanied (sports) teams. Out of a million people, 5,000 is not a lot and that shows the deep work of the Ministry of the Interior,” he said.
Paris will deploy 35,000 police officers each day for the Olympics, which run from Friday to August 11, with a maximum of 45,000 for the opening ceremony. In addition, 10,000 soldiers are involved in security operations in the Paris region.
FILE – People walk past the dining hall at the Olympic Village, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 22, 2024, in Paris, France.
AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool, Archive
France is also receiving help from more than 40 countries, which together have sent at least 1,900 police reinforcements.
“Of course, we are especially protective of the Ukrainian team, which is obviously under considerable threat,” Darmanin said.
The interior minister had previously said that Israeli athletes would be protected around the clock by the elite GIGN police unit, which is in charge of fighting terrorism and protecting government officials, among other things.
Darmanin also praised the security work of tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, bomb disposal experts, intelligence agents and private security personnel.
In a handwritten note, Darmanin said “the biggest global event a country can host” is “finally” here after four years of preparation, but highlighted unprecedented security challenges.
“Your task will not be easy,” Darmanin said in the letter posted on social media platform X on Monday evening. Paris has suffered repeated deadly extremist attacks and international tensions are high due to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
Olympic organizers also have concerns about cyberattacks, while human rights advocates and critics of the Games are worried about the use of artificial intelligence-equipped surveillance technology in Paris and the broad scope and scale of Olympic security that they fear could remain in place beyond the Games.
Rather than building an Olympic park with venues clustered outside the city centre, like Rio de Janeiro in 2016 or London in 2012, Paris has opted to host many of the events in the heart of the bustling capital of 2 million people, with others spread across suburbs that are home to millions more.
The installation of temporary sports stadiums in public spaces and the holding of the opening ceremony along the Seine make such protections more complex.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
