France has stopped 37 terrorist attacks and six far-right attack plans since Emmanuel Macron was elected president in 2017, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) on Sunday. ).

“There were three major advances that must be attributed to Emmanuel Macron. First, the unprecedented strengthening against the terrorist threat: 37 terrorist attacks and six far-right attack projects were dismantled,” said Darmanin, defending executive security policies.

The minister also praised the doubling of internal intelligence resources and the creation of 10,000 additional posts in the police and military police (Gendarmerie Nationale).

The JDD interview comes in the context of April’s presidential elections, in which the right and far-right are trying to dominate public debate with questions about security and identity.

Polls show that the right-wing candidate, Valérie Pécresse, and the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, are fighting to reach the second round against Emmanuel Macron, and, in this interview, the French Interior Minister considered that “Le Pen is the most dangerous person for the country”.

“If Marine Le Pen takes responsibility, it will be national discord and then civil war,” said the minister, who criticized the conservative right for rallying far-right issues to prevent a flight of votes.

Source: with agencies