Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “There are things that cannot be sold or converted into cash”: why the installation of a Saudi village in Les Invalides is controversial ?

La Cour de l'Hôtel des Invalides est régulièrement utilisée pour rendre des hommages. MAXPPP – CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

The installation for four months of a Saudi Olympic village at Les Invalides, an emblematic place for the French armies in Paris, is under study and arouses opposition from right-wing deputies who challenged the government.

"There are ongoing discussions at the request of the Saudis. They are carried out under very strict conditions that the Saudis have not yet accepted, which must ensure the security of the site, the solemnity of the place, the tranquility of the residents of the place. National Institute of Invalides (INI)" which houses war wounded and veterans, the Ministry of the Armed Forces told AFP, specifying that "the provision compensation will be donated to the museum of' 39;Army and the INI.

According to MP LR Nathalie Serre, member of the Defense committee at the National Assembly, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could, with financial assistance, install a village from May 10 Olympic Games in the grounds of the Hôtel national des Invalides, possibly near the military necropolis where Napoleon rests.

"Saudi Arabia poses a specific problem regarding respect for human rights but if it were a Danish or Canadian village, the problem would have been the same" , she explains to AFP. "There are things that cannot be sold or converted into cash and the Invalides, in my opinion, are one of them.

"Here, we talk about the values ​​of the Republic"

Questioned on the subject on Wednesday during questions to the government, the Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs remained evasive. "I will try to answer what I know, indeed, it is information that we may have had, declared Patricia Mirallès. Today, nothing is concrete, nothing is done and therefore I understand your questions but I will not respond to things that have not been done, nor signed, with no agreement' ;quot;.

According to MP Serre, it is not abnormal that a museum can be rented for a private event but it is different when a foreign state is involved in the project.

"Whether you bring a Chanel show, it remains private but it doesn't last four months and we don't appropriate anything other than that. ;#39;is the beauty of the place. There, we are talking about the values ​​of the Republic,” she assures us. The Hôtel des Invalides houses the Army Museum, Napoleon's tomb and the Museum of the Order of the Liberation.