After widespread concerns about espionage and cyber attacks, French security services have rejected more than 4,000 applications for accreditation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, whereas around 100 journalists, technical workers, and therapists have already had their visas rejected.
About a hundred applications were rejected because of fears or concerns that they were agents trying to obtain accreditation using another profession.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin revealed that they had applied as journalists or technical staff, and their countries of origin were Russia and Belarus, Schengen.News reports.
In addition, the Russian athletes have been allowed to be accredited for the Games and have already arrived in the French capital.
As the country’s interior minister revealed, Paris will deploy 45,000 security personnel to ensure the safety of the Games and its unique opening ceremony along the River Seine, where athletes will float on barges past hundreds of spectators.
Meanwhile, organisers have reduced the initial number of spectators from 600,000 to around 300,000.
According to Darmanin, so far, nearly one million accreditation requests for the Games that start on July 26 have been checked, and 4,340 people have been rejected, some for radical Islamic connections or suspicions that they were foreign spies.
Such games held in Paris attract hundreds of thousands of foreigners every year. This year, they will take place from July 26 to August 11.
The Russian and Belarusian teams have been banned from the Summer Olympics as punishment for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which Belarus has supported.
In an effort to guarantee security during these events, Germany has recently planned to establish temporary internal border controls with France before the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Although the measures have not yet been implemented, German authorities said controls will remain during the Paris Olympics.
As Schengen.News reports, as of January of this year, about 70,000 applicants worldwide are eligible to apply fully online for a Schengen visa to participate in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Thus, two categories of third-country nationals will be eligible for a digital French Schengen visa.
The first category includes Olympic and Paralympic Family members for whom an application for accreditation is submitted to the Olympic or Paralympic Committee (OCOG). In contrast, the second consists of other official guests invited by the OCOG.
Source : https://schengen.news/paris-olympics-over-100-russian-belarusian-journalists-technical-workers-have-their-visas-rejected/
