France Guarantees Security at Euro-2016 Despite Present Threat

France will assure all necessary security measures during the Euro-2016 football championship amid current threats, a spokesperson for the French Gendarmerie told Sputnik on Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — France is ready to guarantee security during the Euro-2016 football championship this summer in light of a present threat, a spokesperson for the French Gendarmerie told Sputnik on Friday.

“Very obviously, the threat is present but everything is in place for holding this event in the best safety conditions,” Jean-François Brisse said.

On Tuesday, the US State Department warned US citizens of possible terror attacks in Europe this summer, saying that major events could be a target.

The 2016 UEFA European Championship is set to take place in several French cities on June 10-July 10.

The French Interior Ministry responsible for overall tournament security will dispatch more than 87,000 security staff in order to ensure the safety of sportsmen and fans, including 42,000 policemen, 30,000 gendarmes, 10,000 military personnel and more than 5,000 civil security agents.

“The figures are outstanding but the management of such events is not new, the police are trained and the operation was tested in 2007 with the Rugby World Cup, or in 2015 with the protection of COP21 [UN Climate Change Conference in Paris],” Brisse said.

Paris police chief Michel Cadot has earlier proposed to close a fan zone in the heart of Paris when Euro-2016 matches are played in the city. Police later said that security forces would receive reinforcements to protect fan zones during the championship.

France is in a state of emergency after 130 people were killed in November in a series of terror attacks on the country.