PARIS — The special anti-terrorism measures in place to protect the unprecedented opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the Seine will now also apply to all buildings along the route, including those working and living there. People and their guests will be exposed to the background. Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said Thursday that security checks would be carried out.
Nuñez said those affected will be checked against security agency databases to see if they have previously been flagged for suspected Islamic extremism or other forms of extremism.
The highly ambitious July 26 ceremony is proving to be a huge security challenge. Athletes will be paraded in 94 boats along a six-kilometre (about four-mile) stretch of the Seine River from east to west through the heart of the French capital. Eighty-seven other boats will accompany the ship for security, media and other personnel.
The entire parade route falls within a high-security zone that Nuñez described as an “anti-terrorism perimeter.” He said this includes the first row of buildings along the route.
“We wanted to include all the buildings around it that could see the parade,” Nunez said.
The zone will be in place from July 18 and will be expanded further along both banks of the river in the final hours before the evening ceremony on July 26.
Nunez said anyone wishing to enter the zone eight days before the ceremony and on the day of July 26 will have to pre-register online, and that background checks, known in France as “administrative investigations”, will be “systematic”. He said it would be done. .
Those affected will include those who work and live within the zone, their guests and those who go to hotels and restaurants within the zone, he said.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said about 20,000 people live and work within its borders. A few days before the ceremony, a place to cross the river will be prepared and a way to visit the Louvre and other museums along the river without entering the security zone will be provided.
Nuñez said security checks for those affected will not include searching their communications. “It’s not that intrusive,” he said.
“We check to see if the person is known in a certain number of intelligence files,” he said.
Persons marked with checks may be prohibited from entering the zone. “Obviously it's going to be case by case,” Nunez said.
Ticket holders for the ceremony will not need to pre-register on the online platform, which will open on May 10, but Nuñez said French intelligence services could also check ticket holders.
Separately, the head of the Paris region's administration, Marc Guillaume, promised to publicly announce how and when the water quality of the Seine would be regularly tested.
Marathon swimmers and Olympic and Paralympic triathletes are scheduled to race in the river, which is being cleaned in preparation for the event. Samples will be taken from 36 locations on the river and its tributary, the Marne, starting July 1, Guillaume said.
“We will be completely transparent about our results,” he said.
