(19 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris – 19 June 2024
1. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo stepping onto stage
2. Wide of press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Anne Hidalgo, Paris Mayor
"Yes, France is going through a major democratic crisis. We can’t deny it. Let’s not carry on as if it wasn’t happening as this big event gets closer (the Olympic Games). Yes, the Far Right is on the verge of power and it carries along hatred and chaos. It carries along with it everything that goes against the universal values that we share."
4. Press conference
5. Hidalgo behind lectern
6. SOUNDBITE (French) Anne Hidalgo, Paris Mayor:
"This morning, I solemnly share this message with Parisians, the French and citizens of the world who love Paris and who want to visit Paris, especially for the Olympic and Paralympic celebration. I say to them, our city is the City of Lights, the city where the most vulnerable seek refuge, the city that inspires, the city that is never afraid. And I can tell you, I am never afraid."
7. Panel on stage with Hidalgo, centre, holding microphone
8. Olympic rings on flag
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Anne Hidalgo, Paris Mayor:
"I want to tell all of our friends abroad who have questions, are worried and wonder what is going on in France, what is going on in Paris. I say: come visit! This is a place where we are going to carry on breathing democracy and freedom. It’s a place where, together, thanks to the athletes, we are going to show that this path on which the Olympic and Paralympic Games are going to take us down is far more exciting than the chaos, the battles, the narrow-mindedness and this hierarchy of men and peoples that the architects of chaos have to offer."
10. Close of Hidalgo
STORYLINE:
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo stepped forward on Wednesday to reassure tourists and sports enthusiasts, urging them to visit the City of Lights this summer despite ongoing political turmoil.
Earlier this month, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the lower house of France’s parliament in a surprise announcement, sending voters back to the polls, after his party was handed a humbling defeat by the far right in the European Parliament election.
At a City Hall press conference, Hidalgo told reporters Paris remained at the forefront of the fight against extremism.
"I say: come visit!", Hidalgo said. "This is a place where we are going to carry on breathing democracy and freedom."
When asked whether a far right victory would impact the Olympic Games, Hidalgo insisted the plan was in motion and no one could make changes to the organisation of the event.
AP video shot by Alexander Turnbull
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