PARIS (Sputnik) — The security measures should be increased in France in order for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris to be held successfully, leader of the French right-wing National Front (FN) party Marine Le Pen said Thursday, a day after the announcement of Paris' bid victory for hosting the event.
The announcement about Paris hosting the 2024 Games was made by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Peru on Wednesday.
"There is a matter no one is talking about, which is security, which is going to become a pressing issue. Paris is not the safest capital of the world, it is often criticized, because we lack the personnel, we lack efficiency. With the terrorist threat and ordinary crimes, we need to take this matter more seriously," Le Pen told the France 2 broadcaster.
With the budget cuts announced by the French government in summer, the state is already asking a lot from its citizens, Le Pen added, calling on the government to carefully treat its expenses over the high costs of hosting the Olympics.
"It is good news for France, even though we were the only candidate. Now we need to organize these Olympics, and the politicians have to be cautious and attentive, because we do not need to see the expenses go off track when we ask the French people for such efforts," Le Pen concluded.
France last hosted the Olympics in 1992, when the Winter Olympic Games were held in Albertville in the French Alps.
Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said later in the day the 2024 Summer Olympics, set to take place in Paris, will create an estimated 250,000 new jobs in the country's central Ile-de-France region, home to the French capital.
Of course, we conducted a very serious study … Within the coming seven years, 250,000 jobs will be created in the region of Ile-de-France, the economic effect by 2024 will amount to about 10.7 billion euro [$12.8 billion]," Hidalgo said.
She added that the Olympics would stimulate both the city's economic and environmental development.
"[The games] will allow us to implement faster environmental and energy transition," the mayor added.
Hidalgo pointed out that almost 95 percent of the infrastructure needed for the Summer Games was already ready.
