After the attack in Moscow which left at least 137 dead Friday evening and the “threats” targeting France, in particular educational establishments, Emmanuel Macron chaired a defense council at the Elysée this Sunday evening. Faced with this, the government has decided to raise the Vigipirate level to “emergency attack”.
Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday evening that he was “raising” the Vigipirate plan in France to its highest “emergency attack” level, following the attack on Moscow claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). “Given the claim of responsibility for the attack by the Islamic State and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: attack emergency,” indicated the Prime Minister on the social network X following a defense council at the Elysée.
Following the attack in Moscow, a Defense and National Security Council was convened this evening at the Elysée by the President of the Republic.
Given the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility for the attack and the threats weighing on our country, we have decided to…
— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024
“The Moscow attack and its consequences”
“The claim for the Moscow attack comes from the Islamic State in Khorasan. However, this organization threatens France and has been involved in several recent foiled attack plans in several European countries, including Germany and the France,” said Matignon. “The Prime Minister asked the Secretary General of Defense and National Security, under his authority, to convene a meeting first thing tomorrow (Monday) bringing together all the security services impacted by the increase in the Vigipirate level “, we add. The Vigipirate plan was downgraded to level 2 (“reinforced security – risk of attack”) in January.
On Saturday, Vladimir Putin mentioned the Ukrainian trail, ensuring that the attackers had been arrested “while they were heading towards Ukraine”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused his Russian counterpart of wanting to “shift the blame” onto his country. Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, for her part estimated that ISIS bore “sole responsibility” for this massacre and that there was “no Ukrainian involvement”. This attack is the deadliest in Russia in twenty years, and the bloodiest to have been claimed by ISIS in Europe.