- Title: France to deploy 100,000 policemen for New Year's Eve revelries
- Date: 30th December 2019
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 30, 2019) (REUTERS) EIFFEL TOWER, RIVER SEINE BELOW TOURISTS STANDING NEXT TO POLICE SOLDIERS FROM OPERATION SENTINELLE PATROLLING STREET BELOW EIFFEL TOWER VARIOUS OF POLICE GUARDING EIFFEL TOWER GROUNDS SECURITY CAMERA PEOPLE WALKING BELOW EIFFEL TOWER, NEXT TO POLICE VANS FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, SHAKING HANDS WITH POLICEMEN, PARIS POLICE PREFECT, DIDIER LALLEMENT, STANDING BEHIND HIM VARIOUS OF CASTANER TALKING TO POLICEMEN NEAR EIFFEL TOWER CASTANER WALKING WITH POLICEMEN TOWARDS EIFFEL TOWER TOURISTS TAKING PHOTOS SOLDIERS FROM OPERATION SENTINELLE AND TOURISTS CASTANER SHAKING HANDS WITH SOLDIERS, LALLEMENT STANDING BEHIND HIM (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, SAYING: "Tomorrow night, there will be close to 100,000 policemen mobilised around our country - in Paris, of course, and all the rest of the territory. They will be reinforced by the military, who will have a significant presence as well, and by firefighters, who will again be mobilised tomorrow. There is no let-up on New Year's Eve. On the other hand, there are some moments of tension that we can see, and in moments of festive gathering, and our forces will remain present." CASTANER AND LALLEMENT SURROUNDED BY JOURNALISTS, NEXT TO GLASS WALL ON EIFFEL TOWER GROUNDS, INSTALLED AFTER THE MILITANT ATTACKS IN PARIS IN NOVEMBER 2015 (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, SAYING: "In France these days, we unfortunately live at high risk when it comes to terrorism, which had evolved in the past few years from a threat projected from foreign countries to a risk originating locally, maybe from people born in France and maybe provoked in France. It exists. The civil aviation authority intervenes regularly in its role as leader of the concerted action. And each day, we fight terrorism, which does not constitute a specific risk but a permanent one. And so we are always mobilised against this threat." EIFFEL TOWER SPANISH TOURIST, LAURA PELAEZ, WITH HER SON IN FRONT OF EIFFEL TOWER (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) TOURIST FROM ASTURIAS, SPAIN, LAURA PELAEZ, SAYING: "It's not a problem. There was never a moment when we felt like we were under threat. We see a lot of security. The people are very warm, everything is all okay. We never felt scared." AMERICAN TOURIST, BRIAN VAN AKEN, WITH HIS CHILDREN IN FRONT OF EIFFEL TOWER (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN TOURIST FROM PHILADELPHIA LIVING IN LONDON AS A RECRUITMENT COMPANY CEO, BRIAN VAN AKEN, SAYING: "(More) and more today, there's risks anywhere. If you read the news in the U.S., we have it with other type of terrorist activities, with school shootings and things. So it's just about, you can't let that stuff stop you from getting out and exploring the world. That's what creates ideas around closing borders. You need to keep the borders open. You need to keep encouraging people to come out there, because the more people that we interact with in life, the less terrorism I think there will be." VENDOR SELLING SOUVENIRS VENDOR WALKING WITH EIFFEL TOWER SOUVENIRS POLICE VANS DRIVING PAST EIFFEL TOWER
- Embargoed: 13th January 2020 13:04
- Keywords: Castaner Eiffel Tower New Year's Eve Reveillon
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001BC63YO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: France will be deploying 100,000 policemen to patrol New Year's Eve celebrations around the country, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Monday (December 30).
Police will be reinforced by soldiers and firefighters.
Castaner, who met with police officers and soldiers patrolling the area around the Eiffel Tower on Monday morning, said threats from militants remained elevated in France, four years after the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people.
Tourism has picked up after a slump in 2016, and tourists visiting the Eiffel Tower brushed off security concerns.
The Christmas and New Year holidays are usually peak tourist season in France, but visitor arrivals have been hit by a nearly four-week-old transport strike over pension reforms.
Since the start of the strike on Dec. 5, year-on-year revenue loss in Paris stands at some 30 percent for hotels, 40 percent for cafes and bars and 50 percent for restaurants, a spokesman for the GNI independent hotels and restaurants federation said.
(Production: Thierry Chiarello, Antony Paone, Michaela Cabrera) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None