France Considers Lifting State of Emergency

French
JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images

PARIS (AP) — France is talking about eventually lifting the national state of emergency that has been in force since the November 2015 Paris terror attacks.

French Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas said during a speech Wednesday that the country had “created the conditions that make it possible to exit the state of emergency, without weakening ourselves or remaining helpless in the face of the threat of terrorism.”

Urvoas didn’t give a date or time frame for ending the emergency.

Parliament has extended the state of emergency several times, the last time for a 6-month period to cover the spring presidential and legislative elections. The extension ends July 15.

Critics say the exceptional legislation has harmed individual freedoms.

The Nov. 13, 2015 attacks, claimed by the Islamic State group, left 130 dead.

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