Security ahead of the Olympic Games Paris. Photo: photosport
As Paris makes final preparations for the Summer Olympics, the grand opening ceremony along the river Seine on Saturday has created an unprecedented security challenge that organisers hope won't dampen the party vibe.
For the first time, a Games opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium. Instead, dozens of boats will carry thousands of athletes and performers on a 6km (3.7 mile) floating parade down the Seine, showcasing the beauty and history of the French capital.
More than 300,000 people are expected to line both banks of the river to watch the ceremony - along with 45,000 police, including members of France's elite special intervention forces trained in counterterrorism.
Snipers will be deployed on the top of buildings along the route and an anti-drone system will be in place.
"There's a balance to be found between top security, which is absolutely the priority," Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, told a press conference on Sunday.
"It's part of the objective to guarantee the security and to propose a fantastic celebration of the Games... But to have this kind of unique celebration, you also need to have a very, very strong security plan. And that's the case."
Spectators' stands along the River Seine ahead of the Paris Olympic Games. Photo: photosport
The ceremony, which will start at 7.30pm on Friday night local time (5.30am Saturday NZT), will be "a large fresco" celebrating Paris, France and the Games and will interweave the traditional parade by athletes with artistic performances and elements of protocol, said Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony.
With wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and security concerns at home, France is already at its highest level of security. The crowds set to descend on Paris will be in marked contrast to the atmosphere of the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2021 which played to empty arenas, and a year later than scheduled, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
French officials have said there are no specific terrorism threats for the ceremony that will launch the Games in Paris, which run until Aug. 11.
However, should specific concerns arise, there are backup plans, that would either see the ceremony restricted to the Trocadero square near the Eiffel tower, or switched to the Stade de France stadium.
Accreditations rejected
French security services rejected more than 4,000 applications for Paris 2024 Olympics accreditations, including over espionage and cyberattack concerns, the country's caretaker interior minister said on Sunday.
Gerald Darmanin said French authorities have so far checked close to one million accreditation requests for the Games that kick off on 26 July and had rejected 4340 people, some over radical Islamist connections or suspicion of being foreign spies.
PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 27: A general view of the Eiffel Tower at night as the Olympic Rings are displayed during previews ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on June 27, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Photo: Getty Images/Ryan Pierse
Close to one hundred were rejected over espionage fears or concerns they were agents trying to get an accreditation using a different profession.
"They are probably not there to carry out attacks. But in addition to intelligence and traditional espionage, there is the possibility of accessing entry points into computer networks to carry out a cyberattack," Darmanin told the weekly Journal du Dimanche.
He said they had applied as journalists or technical staff and their countries of origin were Russia and Belarus, among others, which he did not name.
"For example, we refused a large number of 'journalists' who claimed to cover the Games. On the other hand, we accepted the presence of Russians who work for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). We apply the precautionary principle," he said.
Russian journalists have been allowed to get accredited for the Games and have already arrived in the French capital.
Paris will be deploying 45,000 security personnel to guarantee the safety of the Games and its unique opening ceremony along the river Seine where athletes will float on barges past hundreds of thousands of spectators.
Photo: AFP
Organisers have reduced the initial number of spectators from 600,000 to around 300,000.
"To our knowledge, we have no known threat to the security of the Olympic Games," Darmanin said.
"In the past days I did a new reconnaissance by boat on the Seine with the police. I confirm that the ceremony will take place in the format announced by the President of the Republic."
"Apart from the flow of the river and the low risk of bad weather, there is - to date - no identified threat to the Games. Neither our intelligence services nor the foreign services with which we coordinate have detected any foreign threat. But you have to stay very humble and focused."
- Reuters [ https://www.reuters.com/]