How the Elysée protects itself against the risk of intrusion

• On September 28, a 27-year-old man entered the Elysee Palace to meet Emmanuel Macron, reveals

  Le Canard Enchaîné

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• The investigation was dismissed, but the case raises questions about securing the presidential palace.

• In 2019, a reform completely redesigned presidential security.

The "incident" was handled with the utmost discretion by the presidential palace.

On September 28, while Emmanuel Macron was chairing a security council, an individual was arrested after illegally entering the Elysee Palace,

revealed on Wednesday .

To the police who questioned him, the 27-year-old man, unknown to the police, explained that he had acted in "good faith", claiming not to have realized that he was committing a crime.

According to his story, recorded in a report that

was able to consult, this graduate of a double master's degree, currently unemployed, wanted to meet the president to show him his "human qualities", thus hoping to get a job.

The anecdote gives rise to a smile, but the simplicity with which he explains having entered the building raises questions.

He indicates, in fact, that he entered through an additional door without trying to hide, simply following two people dressed in civilian clothes.

He meets a policeman, but the latter would not have asked him for any proof.

"There was a misunderstanding," said a well-informed source.

There seems to have been a mix-up with workers returning from a break.

After crossing the main courtyard – and crossing Republican guards – the young man goes to the vestibule and explains to an usher that he is trying to meet the president.

This is when the alert is given.

"It's a safe bet that he would have been quickly arrested even if he hadn't asked a question", relativizes Alain Le Caro,

“Different layers” of security

If the investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor's office was quickly dismissed, the Elysee Palace claims to have "strengthened the control measures at the entrances and the distribution of pedestrian flows" since this intrusion.

The issue of security is all the more sensitive as it was the subject of a reform in 2019, with the creation of a security department of the Presidency of the Republic.

From now on, the protection of the president, the security of the buildings and the logistics are grouped under a single command.

In total, some 290 officers work there.

“In fact it is much more, because these figures do not take into account the police officers around”, blows a military source.

Because securing a building like the Elysée is first and foremost done at the district level.

Since the election of Emmanuel Macron, the circulation of vehicles is prohibited in the streets around the palace, and that of pedestrians prohibited at night or even during the day during the councils of ministers or defense.

Police officers from the police headquarters are responsible for organizing checks around the building.

"You have to think of the president's security as a millefeuille with different layers," explains Alain Le Caro.

This is how you fill in the holes in the racket.

If there is a failure at one level, the next level fills the gap.

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The presidential bubble

At the gates of the Elysée, a second level of protection applies, orchestrated this time by the gendarmes of the Republican Guard.

The soldiers, in ceremonial dress, control the comings and goings at the various access points, while the ushers – also gendarmes – have the role of welcoming visitors and bringing them to the person with whom they have appointment, be it the president or a simple adviser.

They are the ones who sounded the alarm on September 28.

“Their role is not only to accompany someone from point A to point B, but above all to ensure that no intrusion takes place in the building, specifies Alain Le Caro.

This is even more true when there are works or events, because the risk of exchange between the exterior and the interior is greater.

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Since 1983, a third level of protection has been put in place with the creation of the Security Group of the Presidency of the Republic (GSPR).

This time, security is not centered on the building but on the President of the Republic himself.

This group, made up of 78 gendarmes – all former members of the GIGN – and police officers, is responsible for the close protection of the Head of State.

Most of their missions take place during the president's travels, but a tight team also follows him to the Elysée, ready to intervene in case of danger.

Despite everything, professionals agree on one point: all these security levels reduce the risk of intrusion without formally preventing it.

At the White House, for example, a building yet considered one of the safest in the world,

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• Miscellaneous facts

• Emmanuel Macron

• Elysium

• Security

• Police

• Gendarmerie