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The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, announced that she was going to swim in the Seine in the week of July 15. The councilor was forced to postpone the operation – initially scheduled for June 30 – due to the early legislative elections.
The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, who postponed her historic dive into the Seine due to the early legislative elections, will finally swim there the week of July 15, she announced this Wednesday, June 19. The elected socialist promised to swim in the river before the Olympic Games (July 26 – August 11) which are to be held there, and which are always threatened in the event of heavy rain, synonymous with pollution.
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The mayor of the host city will swim “after July 14, 15, 16 or 17 depending on the weather”, she declared during a progress update on the Olympic Games, shaken up by the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly. This “does not change anything about the opening ceremony” for which “there is no plan B”, affirmed the mayor of Paris.
“Neither in denial, nor in flight”
The opening ceremony, an unprecedented nautical parade on the Seine, is to be held on July 26, three weeks after the second round of legislative elections. Asked about the consequences that the arrival of a far-right government could have during the Paris Olympics, Anne Hidalgo said she was fighting “so that the RN does not come to power”. “I will neither be in denial nor in flight, I will assume this role as I have always assumed it,” she added. “The Paris Games will be open to the world,” said the mayor, “of a city which, despite chaotic and troubled times, is a city of hope.”
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“Come, this is a place where we will continue to breathe,” said the elected official to answer the questions of those “who are worried about the French situation”. His deputy for sport and the Olympics, Pierre Rabadan, recognized that the organization of the legislative elections “poses a certain number of technical and operational questions” for the Olympics, in particular on the involvement of municipal agents for the two events. “We could have done without this dissolution at that time,” commented Anne Hidalgo.
