“Big idiots, even big delinquents,” exclaimed Clément Beaune about the identity of the authors of the multiple bomb threats… Nearly 70 false bomb alerts have targeted French airports since Wednesday, sent since “almost always the same email address located in Switzerland,” the Minister of Transport said on Sunday. “There have unfortunately been nearly 70 alerts of this type which have concerned our airports since Wednesday, fortunately much less yesterday Saturday, the first day of departure on vacation for many French people,” declared Clément Beaune, guest of Political Questions (France inter, France TV, Le Monde).
In addition to airports, certain public establishments are particularly targeted. The Palace of Versailles announced its temporary evacuation on Sunday for the seventh time in eight days. A suspect was arrested on Friday for the only alert issued by telephone concerning the castle, the others having been posted on a government website, according to police sources.
The alerts at airports are the work not of “little pranksters” but of “big idiots or even big delinquents,” the minister stressed. Regarding their motivation, “there can be a mixture between people who make bad jokes, who want to scare people for real, and sometimes also a kind of competition in stupidity between hackers,” he suggested. “Since Wednesday, it is almost always the same email address that is used, located outside the European Union, in Switzerland,” he added, suggesting that this put the authors of this “typical email which looks the same from one day to the next” beyond the reach of certain sanctions in the EU.
He invited hosting sites to help the French authorities: “Everyone has a responsibility, including the platforms and social networks, to not support this type of attack and to cooperate as quickly as possible with civil aviation. French and our justice. Making false alarms is “extremely dangerous” because it mobilizes security forces “for several hours” and forces an evacuation “in some cases so that people gather outside which is also a security problem” , recalled the minister. He indicated that he had asked each airport, for each alert received by email or call, to systematically file a complaint. In total, “more than 60 investigations, all locations combined, have been launched,” he said.
France has raised the alert level of the Vigipirate plan against attacks to the maximum level since the assassination on October 13 of teacher Dominique Bernard in his high school in Arras (Pas-de-Calais) by a young person accused of Islamist radicalization. Police and military patrols from Operation Sentinel have been reinforced, as have the number of agents in train stations and airports. From next week, “40% more patrols will be put in place” in Paris airports, announced Mr. Beaune. Beyond that, the minister wants “more powers” given to the SNCF security forces, in addition to the reinforced skills already introduced for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
