The “emergency attack” alert decreed in France this Sunday: what is the highest level of the Vigipirate plan ?

La France rehausse le plan Vigipirate à son niveau le plus élevé. MAXPPP – Alexis Sciard

À l’issue du Conseil de sécurité sur l’attentat à Moscou, le gouvernement a décrété "l’urgence attentat" ce dimanche 24 mars 2024 en France.

Emmanuel Macron chaired a Defense Council on the Moscow attack this Sunday evening this Friday March 22.

Attack emergency declared

At the end of the Security Council, the Prime Minister announced on X (formerly Twitter) that an emergency attack had been declared in France.

"We have decided to raise the Vigipirate posture to its highest level: emergency attack"

À la suite de l’attentat de Moscou, un Conseil de Défense et de Sécurité nationale a été réuni ce soir à l’Elysée par le Président de la République.

Compte tenu de la revendication de l’attentat par l’état islamique et des menaces qui pèsent sur notre pays, nous avons décidé de…

— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 24, 2024

Gabriel Attal justifies this decision by "claiming the attack by the Islamic State and the threats weighing on our country& ;quot;, he wrote in his tweet.

In January, the Vigipirate plan was downgraded to level 2, i.e. "reinforced security – risk of attack.

What is this third level of the Vigipirate plan??

This alert level ensures exceptional mobilization of resources such as the soldiers of the Sentinel force. & quot;But also to disseminate information likely to protect citizens in a crisis situation".

According to the French administration website, access controls for people and vehicles may be reinforced in public buildings.

A visual check of bags may be carried out at the entrance to educational establishments. In the event of refusal, the school director or head of establishment may refuse the person in question access to the building.

And certain places of worship may be subject to increased surveillance.