Organizers have scaled back a grand plan to make the Opening Ceremonies on the Seine river widely accessible and free to most.
PARIS — With just over four months until the Olympics, France’s bold promise of hosting the most open Games in history is being tested by mounting security concerns.French officials say hosting such a massive event was always going to require sensitive balancing of openness and public safety.
“I do hope to be back for the opening,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, adding that she was intrigued to see “how you secure hundreds of thousands of people watching a parade of boats.”“As we see how the planning about the Opening Ceremonies on the Seine has gone, we might be able to consider doing more open parts of the games within Los Angeles, as well,” said City Council President Paul Krekorian.
The changes reflect “the need to make it the most popular ceremony that we can, while managing all the details on the security and the safety side,” French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said at a recent news conference, responding to a question from The Washington Post. “It’s a good idea to want the ceremony to be open and to send a signal that the Olympic Games are not going to be intimidated,” said Peter Neumann, a European terrorism expert. “But of course, undoubtedly, there is a risk.”French officials will need to prevent a scenario in which the boats carrying over 10,000 athletes and their delegations during the Opening Ceremonies become “fixed targets,” Neumann said.
“You don’t hear much about openness in Paris these days,” said François Heisbourg, a security expert and longtime adviser to French officials.“Moving around is going to be hell,” he said, acknowledging that he intends to leave Paris during the Olympics.
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