Paris authorities have reportedly canceled the annual open-air New Year’s Eve concert on the Champs-Élysées due to severe security risks from potential terror threats and crowd management challenges, the New York Post reports.
Paris police chief Laurent Nunez advised Mayor Anne Hidalgo against the event, warning that accommodating up to one million people on the avenue would overwhelm resources amid France’s high terror alert level. Officials highlighted vulnerabilities at holiday sites like Christmas markets, now deemed prime targets following recent jihadist plots and the 2018 Strasbourg Christmas market attack that killed five.
Daniel Di Martino, an immigration fellow at the Manhattan Institute, cited the mass influx of migrants, particularly those from terror groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, as a significant cause.
According to The Post, Di Martino explained, “Europe simply welcomed millions of people who were Muslim, who were not highly educated, and who bought into terrorist ideology and are willing to commit terrorist acts and have a culture that is incompatible with Christianity.”
“And some of them actually hate Christianity, and that’s why they target Christmas markets,” he continued. “They’re much less educated. They’re much more Islamic. The children of those immigrants are not integrated into the rest of society. They’re still living in ethnic enclaves there. They don’t have high employment rates. They’re actually much more likely to be out of a job. So, they’re much poorer.”
Fireworks and a drone light show near the Arc de Triomphe remain on schedule to preserve some celebration, but without the live music drawing massive crowds. Enhanced security patrols, including 4,000 officers citywide, aim to safeguard smaller gatherings during the holidays.
Bruno Retailleau, head of Les Républicains and former interior minister, warned that France is descending into violence, stating, “Unfortunately, in France, there is such a turn toward savagery that everything becomes a pretext for violence.” Retailleau argued that canceling New Year’s Eve celebrations amounted to capitulation.
In Paris, incidents of unrest have recently surged. Police reported that the Champs-Élysées saw more “scares” within two hours of New Year’s Eve festivities than during three weeks of the Olympic Games. That night, nearly a thousand cars were set on fire and more than 400 people were arrested, reflecting what authorities described as widespread, “senseless” violence.