Olympics 2024 in Paris: why foreign soldiers and police will help ensure the safety of the Games

France will welcome athletes from all over the world. But also part of the planet’s uniform. Several foreign countries will send soldiers to France to help ensure security for the Olympic Games (July 26-August 11). It is a huge task as France returned to its highest level since Sunday’s “emergency attack” Vigipirate plan, two days after the attack was claimed by the Islamic State group in Moscow.

Interested countries include Poland, which announced its presence in the Olympic system on Thursday afternoon. “The Polish armed forces will join the international coalition created by France to support the preparations and security of the 2024 Summer Olympics,” Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak said on the Kamysz social network. In a report by Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui in France, representatives of the Ministry of the Armed Forces confirmed that several more countries would join the effort, without specifying which ones.

Dogs among the reinforcements

Efforts across borders will not be limited to the military. In early January, the Ministry of the Interior made a “request for almost 2,185 reinforcements” from “46 foreign partners.” “To take into account the spectator experience, to respond to the challenge of the Games’ capabilities and to strengthen international cooperation,” emphasizes Bovo, who plans to deploy around 35,000 police officers during the Olympic Games and up to 45,000 on Olympic Day. opening ceremony on the Seine.

During the Rugby World Cup, around 160 European security forces arrived at the site, in part to monitor fans from the British Isles. During the Euro 2016 football tournament organized in France, 180 foreign police officers joined the competition security system. But more to scare away potential hooligans. France, for its part, sent 226 people to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including 167 gendarmes responsible for combating drones.

Some of the most anticipated reinforcements during the Olympics will be on four legs. “Some foreign countries will strengthen us in certain critical areas, such as dog capabilities, where the needs are enormous,” the Ministry of the Armed Forces says. Valuable dogs for detecting possible explosives sent by Poland with their noses, as well as for guarding and patrolling.

Some foreign police may be armed

Abandonment of France, which in one year had between 10,000 and 18,000 troops on deck for this event, forced to draw from neighboring armies and security forces? “This is the classic approach of host countries to organizing major international events,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs emphasizes. He has already begun negotiations with his foreign colleagues, in particular on the possibility of arming some foreign police officers. Bovo does not close the door, especially to delegations most exposed to potential terrorist attacks.

Foreign law enforcement agencies will be able to deploy around the places where their compatriots will be located. German federal police agents, for example, are investing in the Stade Jean-Bouin in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, a regular building of the Stade Français chosen by the Rhine Olympic Committee as the nerve center for its athletes, capable of hosting 17,000 people during the OD . Germany is also among the countries that must help ensure the safety of the cities where the competition will be held. The main concern of the French authorities at the moment.