French Minister of the Interior Urges Strengthened Counterterrorism Cooperation with US before Paris Olympics.

The Minister of the Interior has asked the US government to strengthen their counterterrorism cooperation before the Paris Olympics in 2024.

By Le Figaro with AFP

Posted on 05/20/2023 at 05:56

The French Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmaninvisiting the United States, was alarmed on Friday by a «reprise» of the threat “Islamic terrorist” in Europe and asked the US government to strengthen their counter-terrorism cooperation, before the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“We came to remind them that for Europeans and for France, the primary risk is Sunni Islamist terrorism and that anti-terrorist collaboration between intelligence services is absolutely essential”, underlined Gérald Darmanin in an interview with AFP in New York. And “At a time when Americans may have a more national vision of the disputes – white supremacism, repeated shootings, conspiracy – they must not forget what appears to us in Europe as the primary threat: Sunni terrorism”insisted the French minister.

Gérald Darmanin completed a two-day visit to Washington, New York and the UN, in order to boost police and judicial cooperation between France and the United States, provided for in a 2016 agreement, for the fight against terrorism and serious crime. He spoke with Deputy Justice Minister Lisa Monaco and Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas, then visited the FBI Federal Police Training Center in Quantico, Virginia (east). In New York, he met with NYPD chief Keechant Sewell to discuss policing and security at major international events, citing the 2024 Olympics in Paris (July 26-11 August 2024), the Rugby World Cup (September 8 to October 28, 2023) and the visit of Pope Francis to Marseille on September 23.

“The risk resumes”

In this context, but without mentioning specific threats, Gérald Darmanin affirmed that “the risk resumes” in terms of “Islamist terrorism” which would again target France and its European neighbours. He pointed “an endogenous threat of people without networks but who, becoming radicalized, take action in a few hours, in a few days (…) Someone who takes a knife, goes into a bakery and goes to kill people”. Et “there is the exogenous risk, organized people from outside who come to France to carry out an attack of the Bataclan type” in Paris on November 13, 2015.

Gérald Darmanin thus deplored the “departure of Americans from Afghanistan” and that of France “the Sahelo-Saharan strip”, “the reconstitution of Daesh cells (Islamic State group) in the Levant, which mean that these exogenous threats, in the perspective of the major events that France will organize, are moments of significant risk of terrorist attacks.