So close to the peasant protest which has mobilized the Attal government for a month and a half, the agricultural fair, which opens for ten days this Saturday, Porte de Versailles, in Paris, is worrying the authorities.
And the security measures adopted are intended to meet the concerns.
The organizers of the event have already warned visitors that they will be subject to systematic searches at the entrances.
This requires a serious strengthening of the inspection-screening teams, whose numbers were to be increased by 30 to 40% this weekend.
The intelligence services do not only fear excesses from the most extremist farmers.
They must also take into account the risks of heavy-handed action by agitation professionals, such as the Extinction Rebellion movement or the new Riposte Alimentaire collective, which stood out on January 28 by dousing the Mona Lisa at the museum with soup. of the Louvre.
An action that its activists presented as
“the kick-off of a campaign of civil resistance on sustainable food”
.
600,000 visitors expected
This time, the President of the Republic, who has never missed an agricultural show in Paris, has chosen to innovate, by organizing a major debate on site, this Saturday, with farmers' representatives.
This makes the task of the show organizers a little more complicated, especially since the host of the Élysée wanted to allow free access to the area concerned, during the discussions.
Arnaud Lemoine, director of the National Center for Agricultural Exhibitions and Competitions (Ceneca), expects at least 600,000 visitors for this sixtieth edition.
According to him, the event he co-organizes is
“the leading French show”
in terms of visitors and remains
“the sounding board for the agricultural world”
.
“We don’t want this to degenerate at all
,” he adds.
Emmanuel Macron's security?
“The security of the president is the only one that the show does not control”
, because
“the Paris police headquarters uses all of its resources to protect the head of state as he walks”
, assures Arnaud Lemoine.
In fact, numerous meetings have been held in recent days to refine the system, including one, decisive, on Thursday.
Messages were passed in advance to possible disruptors.
Arnaud Gaillot, the president of the Young Farmers' Union (JA), declared before the event:
"We cannot have a normal agricultural show as if nothing had happened in recent weeks and everything was going well"
, while asking farmers not to take the event hostage.
Lot-et-Garonne rural coordination closely monitored
Also under the radar of the security services: the Rural Coordination of Lot-et-Garonne, very much at the forefront of the protests in recent weeks.
The Ministry of the Interior has not forgotten the strong tensions which erupted in front of the gates of the Agen prefecture, at the instigation of some of its activists, in January, nor the fact that it had attempted to block the Rungis market of national interest.
Beyond the protest from the peasant world, those responsible for security at the show are also focusing their attention on managing the flow of the public expected in large numbers.
Without forgetting the possible excesses linked to alcohol abuse during these ten days of the show.
Last year, on the penultimate day of the show, faced with crowds deemed too large, it was necessary to close the doors of the event before the scheduled time, to avoid the risk of being crushed in the crowd. .