PARIS (AP) — Three days before the start of the 2024 Olympic GamesThe French interior minister said about 1,000 people suspected of possible affiliation with a foreign power have been banned from the Olympics, one of a number of security threats Paris is addressing to keep the Games safe for athletes and fans.
About 1 million background checks have been closely monitoring volunteers, workers and others involved in the Games, as well as those applying for passes to enter the most tightly controlled security zone in Paris — along the banks of the Seine — ahead of the opening ceremony on the river on Friday.
The checks blocked about 5,000 people, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Tuesday. Of them, “there are 1,000 people we suspect of foreign interference — we can say espionage,” Darmanin said.
Darmanin, who will remain in an interim position until the end of his career, new government is formed after the parliamentary elections this month which denied President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition has a majorityhas repeatedly pointed to suspicions of Russian-backed interference.
“We are here to ensure … that sport is not used for espionage, cyber attacks or to criticise France and the French, and sometimes even to lie about it,” Darmanin said.
He added that ‘disrupting and manipulating information’ is not originating from Russia only but also from other countries, which he did not name. He also gave no further information about the suspected interference.
“That’s why we are alert and we want them to know that we are not naive,” he said.
Others were banned from the Olympics after background checks were conducted into suspected Islamic radicalization, left- or right-wing extremism, significant criminal records and other security concerns, Darmanin said.
“These people, we didn’t think it was a good idea for them to become stadium stewards, volunteers or (sports) teams. Out of 1 million people, 5,000 is not a lot, and it shows the deep work of the Ministry of the Interior,” he said.
Paris puts 35,000 police officers every day before the Olympic Games, which run from Friday to August 11, with a peak of 45,000 for the opening ceremonyIn addition, 10,000 soldiers are taking part in security operations in the Paris region.
France too gets help from more than 40 countries who together sent at least 1,900 police reinforcements.
“Of course we are extra protective of the Ukrainian team, which is clearly under serious threat,” Darmanin said.
The interior minister had previously said that Israeli athletes would be protected 24 hours a day by the elite police unit GIGN, which is responsible for counter-terrorism and protecting government officials, among other things.
Darmanin also praised the security work of tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, bomb defusal experts, intelligence agents and private security personnel.
In a handwritten note to them, Darmanin said that “the biggest global event that a country can host” is “finally” here after four years of preparation, but noted that unprecedented security challenges.
“Your task will not be easy,” Darmanin said in the letter posted Monday night on the social platform X. Paris has repeatedly suffered deadly extremist attacksand international tensions are high because of the wars in Ukraine And Gaza.
The Olympic organizers have also concerns about cyber attackswhile human rights activists and critics of the Games raise concerns about the use of Paris AI-equipped surveillance technology and the broad scope and scale of Olympic security that they believe will remain in place after the Olympic Games.
Rather than build an Olympic park with venues that are outside the city center, as Rio de Janeiro did in 2016 or London in 2012, Paris has chosen to host many of the events in the heart of the bustling capital of 2 million people, with other events taking place in suburbs where millions more live.
Placing temporary sports arenas in public spaces and organizing the opening ceremony along the Seine makes those protections more complex.
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