France is preparing for a turbulent turn of the year. Around 100,000 police forces across the country were mobilized for New Year’s Eve, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said in Paris today. Castaner emphasized that there was no specific security risk. „But we are preparing for everything.“ According to the news broadcaster BFMTV, 148,000 security officers were deployed at the turn of the year last year.
A million-dollar audience is usually expected in the capital, Paris, on New Year’s Eve. The main concern at the moment is the permanent strike in local and long-distance public transport in France. Again, two of the 16 metro lines remained closed in Paris, as the Parisian transport company RATP announced. For the night of January 1, 2020, the fully automated lines should run until 1:45 a.m. The transport companies announced the increase in buses at night.
The permanent strike has paralyzed public transport in Paris and long-distance transport in the country since December 5. There is no quick fix in the power struggle between the government under President Emmanuel Macron and the unions. There was no strike break on the holidays, as Macron had suggested.
