Olympic security checks block 5,000 people, including 1,000 suspected of meddling and espionage

By Saskya Vandoorne and Julen Chavin, CNN

(CNN) — France’s Interior Ministry rejected around 5,000 security accreditation requests for Olympics volunteers and workers, with roughly 1,000 of those cases blocked due to suspicions of meddling or espionage.

The Ministry outlined in a statement on Tuesday that it conducted “about a million” administrative investigations into various staff for the 2024 Paris Games. Of those checks, varying threats were identified, including meddling and espionage, convicted criminal records, illegal alien statuses, radical Islam, and ultra-right and ultra-left ideologies.

“Projects of interference have been foiled,” the ministry stated, adding: “Russia is not the only country likely to interfere in France.”

A Russian national was placed under preliminary investigation Tuesday in Paris over fears he was preparing to disrupt the Olympic Games, the Paris prosecutor’s office told CNN. The statement did not outline what other countries are expected of interfering.

In addition to the staffing checks, the ministry also said it screened almost 20,000 residents living in the security perimeter around the Seine where the Opening Ceremony will take place.

The statement re-iterated that this will be the first Opening Ceremony taking place outside of a stadium for the Summer Games, creating significant security challenges. However, the ministry expressed its confidence, stating that it’s “now ready” after final rehearsals took place on Tuesday evening.

Speaking on BFM on Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, “France knows how to organize what no one else in the world knows how to organize.”

“Once a century, France knows how to be a time of fraternity and sport, but also to show that our country is the most beautiful in the world,” Darmanin said.

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