Macron: confident of great Olympics opening ceremony on river Seine but has plan B

PARIS :French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday he was confident the Olympics’ opening ceremony in July on the river Seine would be a success, but added authorities prepared ‘Plan B’ options should security assessment closer to the games require it.

“We can do it and we will do it,” Macron told RMC Radio and BFM TV of the plan to hold the July 26 opening ceremony with huge crowds around the Seine, where some 160 boats would set off for a 6-kilometre journey.

But France, he added, is not naive.

“If we think there are security risks we’ll have plan Bs, and even plan Cs,” he said.

One option, he added, would be to restrict the ceremony to the central Paris Trocadero square facing the Eiffel Tower. Another would be to move the event indoors to the Stade de France stadium.