France seeks help to bolster security at Paris Olympics

France's Interior Ministry said Friday that 45 countries have been asked to provide police officers and civilian personnel to help safeguard the Paris Olympics this summer.

Separately, the French Defense Ministry has asked for "small numbers" of foreign military personnel for "very specific" tasks during the Games.

France made the requests in January before last week's terror attack claimed by ISIS-K on a Moscow concert hall in which at least 143 people were killed.

"The security context, particularly in recent weeks, means that there is extreme vigilance regarding the security of these Olympic Games," a French military official said.

France no stranger to terror attacks

Even without the Olympics, France has often been the target of terrorist attacks in recent years, the biggest having come in Paris in 2015 and Nice a year later. Early this December, a German tourist was killed in a suspected Islamist-motivated attack near the Eiffel Tower in which the assailant injured two more victims with a hammer.

However, the French request for nearly 2,185 reinforcements to help secure the Olympic Games is standard practice for big sporting events.

Even before the attack in Moscow, Germany and France agreed to deploy security personnel to bolster security in each other's countries during the European Championships and the Olympics.

France sent 200 of its gendarmes to the Football World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and also welcomed 160 officers from other European security forces for the Rugby World Cup that France hosted last year.

How will France secure the Olympic Games?

The country plans to deploy about 45,000 French police and security forces, 20,000 private security personnel, and around 15,000 soldiers each day to protect the Games and Paralympics, which will take place from late July to August.

Organizers are finalizing security planning.

On Tuesday, Vincent Strubel, director general of the French Cybersecurity Agency, said they are preparing for all eventualities, including "attacks from states that want to disrupt the Games because they are not happy for one reason or another, and who might try to disrupt the opening ceremony or cause problems on public transport."

The French government source said 35 countries had responded positively to their request for reinforcements. 

"The Polish Armed Forces will join the international coalition established by France to support the preparations and security of the 2024 Summer Olympics," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday.

The country will be sending troops, including sniffer dog handlers.

Diplomats said other European allies, including Britain and Italy, would provide dozens of police to help patrol the streets.

In addition to the French measure, countries like Israel and the United States will also send security personnel to help secure their teams during the Games.

lo/wd (AP, Reuters)