No TV screens on French terraces during Euro 2016

French railway workers and Labor unions members hold posters depicting the Euro 2016 trophy, during a demonstration against the French government and labor law reforms at Gare Du Nord Station in Paris France, Wednesday June 8, 2016.

Air France said on Thursday it would have to start announcing the first cancellations of flights for the strike period.

Security at the tournament, which runs until July 10, has been the dominant issue in France since last year’s terror attacks in Paris and the recent bombings in Brussels.

The soldiers will also be handed more responsibility to protect sites during Euro 2016. “Let’s not harm France’s capacity to organise global events”, she added.

Despite signs that broader strike action is running out of steam, train services were disrupted for a seventh straight day.

Hollande has refused to back down on the unions’ demands to withdraw the labour reforms, arguing the measures are necessary to cut stubbornly high unemployment.

The latest round of negotiations broke down on Thursday.

Defending champion Spain arrived at its training camp near the city of La Rochelle in western France on Wednesday, the day after a morale-sapping home loss to 137th-ranked Georgia in its final warm-up match.

Here in Lyon, officials are holding security drills in a tournament fanzone after warnings that militants may target the soccer tournament.

France has been under a state of emergency since last November’s coordinated attacks which killed 130 people at a rock concert, on the terraces of bars and restaurants and outside the Stade de France, the stadium where the football tournament will begin on Friday (NZT Saturday).

The eyes of the continent are on France as the Euro 2016 tournament starts later in the day, with 1.5 million foreign fans expected to join at least one million French supporters for the month-long sports festival.

Those stiffened measures at the stadia and fan zones will be two perimeters of security, the first coming before you get to the stadium gates, which may include X-ray machines for certain entrances and games.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the app will “keep the public up to date with what we know”.

The arrest of a Frenchman with alleged far-right sympathies in possession of an arsenal of weapons in Ukraine on Monday caused new jitters.

Germany defender Jerome Boateng, who was playing on the night the Stade de France was targeted in November, has said he has banned his family from attending games because he was concerned for their safety. “The risk is simply too big”, he told the Sport Bild weekly.

The French government has created an emergency alert application for smartphones meant to send swift warnings to other smartphone users in the event of a bombing, shooting or other disaster.