French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games due to take place on the Seine could be moved to the Stade de France for security reasons.
France is on high alert ahead of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are expected to welcome millions of tourists across the country.
The security concerns are particularly alarming in connection with the unprecedented opening ceremony, when the athletes must parade on boats which will sail on a 6 km course on the Seine, under the watchful gaze of thousands of spectators massed on its banks.
In an interview with BFM-TV and RMC, Macron mentioned that the French police forces will be mobilized at an exceptional level of security for this event.
“But we consider that there are real risks, and depending on our analysis of the context, we have developed alternative scenarios,” Macron said. There are plans B and C.”
The opening ceremony, scheduled to take place on July 26, would be the first to be presented outside a stadium. Around 10,500 athletes must parade on boats, in the heart of the French capital, before reaching the finish, located in front of the Trocadéro.
To limit security risks, Macron said the organizing committee could shorten the parade route on the Seine, and perhaps even “repatriate the ceremony to the Stade de France,” where a more formalized ceremony would then be held. traditional.
The organizing committee had initially planned to hold a grandiose ceremony in front of nearly 600,000 people, most of whom had free access to the banks of the Seine. However, concerns associated with logistics and security have forced the French government to review its ambitions. Earlier this year, the number of spectators able to attend the event was reduced to 300,000.
The French government has also decided that tourists will not be able to have free access to the opening ceremony for security reasons. Free access will be strictly reserved for carefully selected people.
Macron recalled that, for the moment, plans for the opening ceremony are unchanged.
“It’s the world first. We can achieve it, and we will achieve it,” concluded the French president.