What are the risks of an attack in France? Why does Vigipirate go to “emergency”?

After the attack in Russia, the French government upgraded the Vigipirate plan to the “emergency attack” level.

This Friday, March 22, 137 people were killed in an attack in Russia. Emmanuel Macron reacted by condemning “firmly the terrorist attack claimed by the Islamic State in Moscow”, also expressing on X his “solidarity with the families of the victims, the injured and the Russian people”. The French president also organized a Security Council devoted to “the attack in Moscow and its consequences”.

At the end of this meeting, Sunday, the government announced that the “emergency attack” alert had been triggered in France. This is the highest level of the Vigipirate plan. It can be put in place “in the immediate aftermath of an attack or if an identified and unlocated terrorist group takes action.”

This alert level is active for a limited period in order to allow the exceptional mobilization of resources to protect citizens. It also aims to strengthen security around schools and places of worship but also in transport or near institutions. This alert level was activated for the last time on October 13, 2023 after the murder of a professor in Arras by an S. It was also used after the attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg in 2018 which caused 5 deaths. In October 2020, the attack emergency was triggered after the attack on the Notre-Dame basilica in Nice where three people lost their lives.

Gabriel Attal reported “threats weighing” on France. According to Matignon, “the responsibility for the Moscow attack comes from the Islamic State in Khorasan. However, this organization threatens France and has been involved in several recent foiled attack plans in several European countries, including the Germany and France,” Franceinfo reported.

This Monday, the Secretary General of Defense and National Security, at the request of the Prime Minister, should convene a meeting with “all security services impacted by the increase in the Vigipirate level”. Four months before the Olympic Games, the fear of terrorist attacks is increasingly present.