France only lowered the security level in January, and now the highest alert level applies again after the attack near Moscow. According to Prime Minister Attal, IS is also an acute threat to France.
A red triangle bordered in black with the word “Vigipirate” – France’s anti-terrorism logo – hangs at schools, government offices, churches and museums. Until now, it had read “risque attentat”, “risk of attack”. As of today, the posters in the display cases have to be replaced: they now say “urgence attentat”, “emergency assassination attempt”.
The previous security alert level “risque attentat” – as seen on the sign at the airport in Cayenne, French Guiana.
This is what the French Defense Council decided late in the evening. President Emmanuel Macron called the committee together in the Elysée Palace on Sunday evening to discuss the security situation in France after the devastating attack on the concert hall near Moscow.
Highest warning level in effect from October 2023 to January
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal justified the declaration of the highest terror alert level on X by saying that the “Islamic State” had claimed responsibility for the attack. This organization also threatens France and was recently involved in several attack plans against Germany and France, among others, which were thwarted, said Attal. He called all the country’s security authorities affected by the increased terror alert level for an early-morning consultation.
The highest terror alert level was only lowered in January. It had previously been in force since the fatal knife attack on a teacher in Arras in October 2023. The attacker was an Islamist radical and comes from the Russian republic of Chechnya.
Regardless of the attack near Moscow, threats of attacks against French high schools have been making headlines for days. They reach the educational institutions through hacked accounts on the Internet.
Tense situation before the Olympic Games
Terror alert level three is the highest in France. It is limited to the time of crisis management and means improved protection against a documented and imminent threat of terrorist attacks or immediately after a terrorist attack.
In concrete terms, this means: maximum vigilance, information for the population as well as massive police presence and security checks in public spaces. Around four months before the Olympic Games, France is reacting tensely and does not want to take any risks.
Stefanie Markert, ARD Paris, tagesschau, March 25, 2024 9:02 a.m