The empty fortress

Protecting the Palais and its inhabitants is a difficult task, nigh impossible. Grounds so vast, a building so immense, full of nooks and crannies. I am certain that even Vauban would have had trouble building a fortress impregnable enough to prevent invaders from entering. And here, I must acknowledge, we all owe a big thank you to the security service and to the member states for putting out such an effort and paying so much money to protect us.

That being said, when will it stop? Today we fortify the entrances, which was much needed. Tomorrow we will have a "perimeter security system," the outside barriers are going to be built up… When will it come to a minefield and the need for every person entering the Palais to undress and be searched bodily?

An old head of the administration, now deceased, maintained a dozen years ago that the only way to assure 100 percent security in the Palais was to not let anyone in, even the officials. Perhaps that is the solution: an empty fortress, with a world of robots inside.

Frankly I don’t have an answer to this thorny question. If some measures are not taken today and by misfortune "something" happens tomorrow, it will be with the head of security that we will place the blame. Wouldn't it make more sense for the administration to improve its communication policy and explain why it is taking certain measures? It would make it easier for us to understand and accept them.

Editor-in-Chief, Jean Michel Jakobowicz