France To Enhance Security At Cannes Film Festival Due To Protests - Reports

France to Enhance Security at Cannes Film Festival Due to Protests - Reports

France will enhance security measures at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival due to possible protests over the controversial pension reform, Jean-Claude Geney, a representative of the Grasse subprefecture who is responsible for the coordination of security at the festival, said on Wednesday

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2023) France will enhance security measures at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival due to possible protests over the controversial pension reform, Jean-Claude Geney, a representative of the Grasse subprefecture who is responsible for the coordination of security at the festival, said on Wednesday.

"It will take additional efforts and resources (to provide the festival's security) compared to last year," Geney told France's 20 Minutes newspaper, adding that the enhanced measures are needed due to social tensions over the pension reform and threats by a major trade union to cut electricity during the protests.

The festival is classified as a high-level security event, since a number of top celebrities will attend it, the French official noted.

The 76th Cannes Film Festival is set to take place from May 16-27.

Prominent actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford will take part in the festival, with thousands of fans and journalists also expected to be at the event.

Over 1,000 riot police and law enforcement officers, and around 200 officers of the Cannes municipal police will be deployed to ensure the security of the festival, 20 Minutes reported, adding that metal fencing will be installed around the area of the festival to prevent intrusions.

In late April, the National Federation of Mines and Energy, a French trade union affiliated with the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), threatened to plunge into darkness the Cannes Film Festival and some other major public events in protest at the controversial pension reform, which would gradually raise the age of retirement in France from 62 to 64 by 2030.