President Emmanuel Macron vowed on Sunday that 2024 will be the year of French pride and hope, marked by the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games and the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral after a devastating fire in 2019.
“Only once in a century does one host the Olympic and Paralympic Games; only once in a millennium does one rebuild a cathedral,” Macron said. “2024 is a year of determination, choices, recovery, and pride. In fact, a year of hope.”
He spoke in a televised address ahead of New Year celebrations, during which around 90,000 police and 5,000 soldiers will be deployed to ensure security and address what the government called a “very high” terrorist threat.
France will continue to “re-arm” itself when it comes to security matters but also boost public education and social cohesion, Macron said.
After a year that saw protests against an unpopular pension reform, wars and crises abroad, as well as street violence following the police shooting death of a teenager at a Paris traffic stop, he tried to uplift the French.
Olympic Party
According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, over 800,000 people took to the Champs Elysees boulevard to greet the new year in a mass party with an Olympics theme.
They watched a stunning video show on the Arc de Triomphe celebrating France’s current and past sports stars ahead of midnight fireworks that lasted 10 minutes.
As of 2300 CET, 69 people have been arrested countrywide, around 40 of whom are in Paris, as authorities have so far only reported minor security-related incidents.
