2024-02-06 22:40:54
The term is no longer taboo. And behind the scenes, things are working. According to our information which partially confirms that of Le Canard Enchaîné, several meetings have taken place in recent weeks to talk about the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and “its plan B”, mentioned at the end of December by Emmanuel Macron during his interview on France 5. Avenues discussed in the presence of the Secretary General of the Elysée, Alexis Kohler, to prepare fallback solutions for the evening of July 26, when around 10,000 athletes are to parade on the Seine to officially launch the Olympics .
Around the table, representatives of the Organizing Committee (Cojo), the Paris police headquarters, and the Ile-de-France prefecture, in charge of river traffic. And according to our information, “many scenarios” are swept away by the participants. Contingency plans, ready to be deployed in the event of an increased terrorist risk or other threat to the safety of participants or the public, are discussed.
The Trocadéro, possible fallback plan
As mentioned by The team in December, one of them leads to the Trocadéro, a place in the capital already sealed off where the parade must end and serve as a setting for dignitaries and heads of state. “We could do a sort of light ceremony there, but really as a last resort if we had to remove the athletes from the Seine. For the moment, that’s not the trend,” says one participant. Several sources deny the seriousness of the option attributed to Alexis Kohler by Canard Enchaîné to place only the flag bearers of each delegation in the barges.
“It’s completely crazy,” says a regular on the file, who evokes a plan proposed by “a person far removed” from these meetings. “It’s a solution like any other,” says another source. Contacted by Le Parisien-Aujourd’hui in France, the Elysée denies this hypothesis.
“As part of the ongoing monitoring of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, work to prepare for the opening ceremony on the Seine continues, based on the original idea of Thierry Reboul (Paris 2024 events director), confirmed by the President of the Republic, explains Emmanuel Macron’s entourage. The architecture of this ceremony is becoming clearer, with possibilities for adaptation if circumstances require it. However, the options presented in the article in Le Canard chainé of February 7, 2024 were never mentioned. »
But if they are necessary, these reflections “are a way of reassuring the public, of saying that there is another way of doing things if the unexpected security situation arises a few days before the event”, underlines the entourage of a participant. As it stands, the priority of the organizers of the evening is to work on plan A. And in particular on the reflection of the number of spectators on the upper quays of the Seine, revised downwards again by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin at the end of January.
How many people will be able to attend the opening ceremony?
If 500,000 people, in addition to the 100,000 paying places on the lower platforms, was planned in the scenario revealed at the end of 2021, the tenant of Place Beauvau reduced this figure to 220,000 in an interview with France 2. “It is this can be used if necessary, explains a security source. You can always close to the public any area that you consider too exposed. »
According to our information, the police continue to plan the deployment and organization of the ceremony in its original philosophy. Paris 2024, which is selling 100,000 tickets on the lower part of the platforms, is also in the same vein.
Same thing with the boatmen involved in the parade on the evening of July 26. Like every month, a meeting took place on Monday within the Paris Port Community which brings together river stakeholders. “No one envisaged such a scenario, on the contrary, we toasted the future opening ceremony in five and a half months,” says a participant.
“The organization of the parade continues. In any case, no one is giving any sign that everything could stop,” comments a shipowner who invoiced the next deadline of the contract signed with those responsible for the opening ceremony. For now, the State is staying the course. But be ready to react in the event of an emergency.
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