2024 Olympics: France to Deploy 35K Security Personnel

0:00

/0:00

1×

Facts

• Citing concerns of novel drone threats, French interior minister Gérald Darmanin announced the deployment of 35K security and military troops to protect the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony that will proceed along the River Seine in the heart of Paris.^[1]
• The opening ceremony is set to be one of the most extravagant in Olympics history, executed along the 6km (3.5 miles) river. In preparation, the French government, the Olympics committee president, and the Parisian mayor issued an 11-page security protocol on Tuesday.^[2]
• Darmanin expects more than 600K people to attend the opening event and called on other countries to increase their intelligence sharing in order to combat potential terror threats, including from drones, which — although he said is an unlikely risk — called the “hardest to stop.”^[3]
• In addition to the extra security during the opening ceremony, the plan will see an average of 30K officers deployed daily during the events — scheduled for July 26 until Aug. 11.^[4]
• The plan also requests that the European Commission reinstate border controls for people arriving from the passport-free Schengen Area, whose countries allow unrestricted movement of people. While the commission has yet to respond, it will likely oblige.^[5]
• The heightened security will cost an estimated €200M ($215.4M), which has caused controversially high ticket prices for the opening ceremony. While some 500K will be able to attend for free in some capacity, 100K premium seats cost up to €2.7K ($2.9K).^[6]

Sources: ^[1]BBC News, ^[2]Associated Press, ^[3]ESPN.com, ^[4]Global News, ^[5]Reuters and ^[6]Le Monde.fr.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Zawya. The Olympic Games are an opportunity for people from around the world to unite and experience athletic greatness on display. However, the exorbitant prices set for the 2024 Paris Olympics set an unreasonable barrier that defies the Olympics' commitment to make the games accessible to all. It is quite unfortunate that many people with a love for competition will not be allowed to attend the games because of corporate greed.
• Narrative B, as provided by ESPN.com. While it would be ideal to have tickets to the Olympic Games affordable to all people, there are security costs and market demands that must be considered and prioritized. The fact that millions of tickets have already been sold shows that not only is there plenty of demand for tickets despite the price of some, but that people recognize that there's no price on safety.